Pace, the UK set-top box manufacturer, has today issued its fifth profits warning of the year and is not optimistic that sales will pick up in the near future.
The company said that the slow take-up of digital television in Europe and the US meant that targets were being missed and second half losses are likely to be heavier than envisaged.
In the UK, Pace has been hit by the demise of ITV Digital and the ongoing tribulations of NTL and Telewest. In July, the firm announced that profits had fallen by 70% (see Falling Profits Force Pace To Take Action) and it has been forced to renegotiate its supply contract with BSkyB on terms that are initially favourable to the satellite broadcaster (see Pace Counts Cost Of New Sky Deal).
Malcolm Miller, the chief executive of Pace, stepped down last month and the company has only recently completed a cost-cutting programme that aims to reduce overheads by £15 million a year.
A spokesperson for Pace said that there were “glimmers of hope” and the arrival of Freeview has stabilised the market in the UK. However, sales remain sluggish in other regions and a recovery, the company said, was unlikely to happen before the end of 2003 or the start of 2004.
Shares in Pace were down 1.5p at 17.5p by mid-afternoon today.
