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Recession has Raymarine in troubled water
24.12.08
Manufacturing: Nautical instruments maker Raymarine today warned its sales have slumped viciously this year as recession takes its toll.
The firm, which makes navigation systems, fishfinders and radar equipment for boats, expects a 13% fall in like-for-like sales this year as demand for new vessels and equipment falls away.
The Portsmouth-based firm said its markets would be even weaker in 2009, although it hopes new product launches will partially offset this. Sales for the first 11 months of the year were £123.3 million against £126 million in 2007.
The business has also struck a deal with lenders to extend its borrowing facilities until March 2010. The shares today rose 2p to 14p, having peaked close to 500p early last year.
"The economic outlook for 2009 remains uncertain," the firm said. "The group's markets are likely to be weaker during 2009 than in 2008 taken as a whole."
