The Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire-based graphics display, components and communications group Telemetrix Plc has undergone dramatic restructuring in its efforts to return to profit. The company’s results (which are for an 18-month period because of the intervening subscription and rights issue in June), reveal that the company did return to profit in the final six months to December 31 with a reported UKP840,000 before tax. This result was obtained after the disposal of Isoplastics, N C Riter Services, and Telemetrix Research which were all loss-making businesses. The Group is now focussed on three divisions: graphics, components, and communications and data. The graphics division now includes the recently acquired Norwegian company Rasterex International which specialises in high resolution colour graphics cards. On the whole, however, the graphics division is proving a disappointment in market terms since the host-based terminal market has practically ground to a halt and micro-based products are also moving slowly. Consequently, Telemetrix is looking for European partners in this sector. The Group has bolstered its components division by acquiring the UK company Component Trading and a majority interest in GTI Corp, a company listed in the American Stock Exchange. At present GTI distributes electronic components on the West Coast of the US as well as manufacturing electronic component and production equipment and rigid and flexible circuit boards. Telemetrix is particularly interested in GTI’s commitment to acquisitive growth in the telecommunications, data transmission and information technology areas, since the electronic component market appears to be turning soft. Finally, the Group has set up a communications and data division which is already manufacturing multiplexer products. Further growth of this division will be by acquisition. Having hauled iself up into the black, Telemetrix vows it will never again be a big borrower with a gearing of 75%, and its future does now look a lot steadier, although it is still not rock solid.
