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Power control solutions manufacturer XP Power reinstated its quarterly dividend after it booked a modest rise in first-half adjusted profit on the back of rising sales.
Pre-tax profit for the six months through June slumped 20% to £10.3m, owing to one-off costs, including acquisition costs and expenses associated with investments in the company's systems.
Revenue rose 6% to £105.1m and adjusted pre-tax profit rose 2% to £17.0m.
XP Power declared an interim dividend of 18.0p per share, down 49% on-year, though that represented a reinstatement because no dividend was paid for the first quarter.
The company said its decision to pay a dividend reflected its confidence in its longer-term prospects.
'Once again, the group has performed extremely well in a period of macroeconomic difficulty, underlining our resilience and the structural growth end markets we address,' chairman James Peters said.
'We have produced a good set of results while continuing to invest in long-term growth, maintaining supply of product to our customers, generating cash and without the need for government support.'
'In light of this resilient performance, I am also pleased to report that we are in a position to reinstate dividend payments with the second quarter dividend.'
'We enter the second half of 2020 with a record customer order backlog due to the strong order intake from our semiconductor equipment manufacturing and Healthcare customers and have expanded our capacity in both China and Vietnam to fulfil demand.'
'These orders underpin our expectation of further revenue growth in the second half, although we remain conscious of potential risks arising from any second wave of Covid-19, global macroeconomic challenges and ongoing trade tensions.'