Electron House Plc rushed out its first half figures a week early yesterday to quash gossip that the company was in trouble and having to renegotiate its borrowings. The figures show a 20% fall in first half profits to UKP1.6m, and the shares, which had slumped 14 pence to 92 pence on the gossip, heaved a sigh of relief and recovered sixpence. Operating profits, excluding the US associate company, were up 25% to UKP3.2m, but the figures at the pre-tax level were indeed hurt by the company’s debt interest payments soared to UKP1.3m from UKP524,000 a year ago. Originally a component distributor, computer distribution and computer systems now make up more than half the company’s business – UK computer products stood at UKP26m, computer systems at UKP9.2m, while components worldwide stood at UKP22.3m, a slight fall on the position a year ago. That was broken down UKP15.2m from tyhe UK, UKP5.2m from Australia, and UKP1.9m from New Zealand. Electron House Inc, the 44%-owned affiliate in the US, did UKP16.3m in electronic components, but has suffered from the weak chip market and has undergone a major management shake-up, with the chief executive leaving in September to be replaced by two people.
