Proactive Investors - discoverIE Group PLC (LON:DSCV), the designer and manufacturer of customised electronics, pointed to its strong pipeline as it said its underlying earnings expectations remained unchanged.
In a trading update covering the first quarter of the new financial year, investors were told group sales for the period were 6% lower than last year's.
On an organic basis, they were 12% off due to continued industrial customer destocking, though this was partly offset by growth in other target markets and a 6% contribution from recent acquisitions.
Gross margins remained strong, and operating costs and working capital were tightly managed. This means the group is on target to achieve a 13.5% underlying operating margin this financial year and is aiming for 15% over the medium term.
Orders increased by 13%, outpacing sales with a book-to-bill ratio of 1.01, up from 0.84 last year. On an organic basis, orders grew by 4%.
"With an excellent pipeline of design wins, acquisition opportunities and high cash flow, the group is well positioned to continue its strong through-cycle growth as market conditions stabilise," discoverIE said in its update.