Diploma Plc of London EC1 was hampered in its first half by its operations in both electronic and building components, so that pre-tax profits fell 9% to just under UKP9m on turnover that managed to grow 5% to top the UKP72m mark. However, the group’s special steels division performed well. As for electronic components, Diploma is unhappy with the pricing policy of chip manufacturers which it believes has flattened the market for franchised distributors. Within the division Macro held steady, Anzac suffered from the memory device market’s dramatic fall in prices. Access turned in a flat performance, while Nortronic’s first half is described as encouraging especially with regard to its Philips franchise, although Diploma warns that a poor demand in the telecommunications sector will limit its progress in the second half. However, star performers in the division were the engineering company ECS and the recently acquired catalogue arm Wakefield. Diploma’s chairman Christopher Thomas said that he expected markets to remain flat within the group’s sectors but that he is reasonably optimistic about the outcome for the rest of the year.
