discoverIE Group PLC on Tuesday said that it remains on track to deliver annual underlying earnings expectations, even as destocking continued at some customers in the first half.

The Guildford, Surrey-based customised electronics manufacturer and designer said that while destocking continued, it did so at a lesser rate.

Group sales, however, were 5% lower on a reported basis from the year prior. Organic sales were 10% lower overall, after falling 7% in the second quarter.

As discoverIE Group explained, there was an 8% contribution from acquisitions, offset by a 2% reduction related to the disposal of Santon’s lower-margin solar business unit.

In the second quarter, discoverIE Group also acquired HiVolt Ltd, a specialist capacitor manufacturer based in Northern Ireland, for £3.8 million.

HiVolt and the other five acquisitions made in the last 14 months are performing well, the firm said, with integrations proceeding as expected.

Gross margins remained ‘robust’, with the group on track to achieve an annual underlying operating margin target of just under 14%, and 15% ‘over the medium term’.

Organically, orders increased by 1% in the half.

The firm will release its interim results on December 3.

Shares in discoverIE were trading 4.3% higher at 626.00 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.

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