Datron - Facing a distressed market

After two years of solid growth, Datron recorded a slight drop in full-year sales in FY19 and a significant decline in EBIT (down by a quarter, year-on-year). This followed a profit warning issued by the management in August 2019 and was driven by worsening market conditions. Due to the high level of uncertainty amid the COVID-19 pandemic, management suspended its full-year guidance in March. Q1 saw a further deterioration in performance. That said, the company maintained a strong balance sheet position (net cash of €8.5m at end-FY19) and has proposed a dividend payout of €0.10 per share from its FY19 earnings, which represents a 1.2% yield.