JSE-listed Reunert on Tuesday reported lower earnings for the six months ended March 31, as a prevailing difficult business environment weighed on the group’s CBI-electric and Nashua businesses.

The engineering, technology and defence group said basic earnings a share fell by 15% from 303.8c for the six months ended March 2012, to 258.1c in the period under review.

Headline earnings a share also recorded a 15% drop to 258.2c during the first half of this year, compared with the 303.7c reported for the comparative period the year before.

The group noted that normalised headline earnings a share fell by 14% from 298c in the interim period in 2012, to 256.5c for the six months to March 2013.

Reunert’s revenue for the first half of the current financial year reached R5.3-billion – an 8% decline on the R5.7-billion revenue achieved in the corresponding period last year.

Operating profit fell by 21% to R583-million, while group profit after tax declined by 15% to R425-million during the first half of 2013.

The group’s CBI-electric subsidiary reported a 9% decline in revenue, from R1.7-billion in the first half of 2012, to R1.6-billion during the first half of 2013, owing to difficult trading conditions.

However, the company noted that revenue was “reasonable” in light of the delays in South Africa’s infrastructure project roll-outs, combined with strikes within the port, mining and transport sectors during the period.

The unit’s operating profit decreased by 20% to R234-million in the interim period in 2013, from R292-million during the comparative period in the prior year, owing to reduced revenue, margin pressures and an unfavourable product mix.

Reunert reported that its Nashua subsidiary earned revenues of R3.3-billion in the period under review. This represented a 9% decline on the revenue of R3.6-billion earned in the corresponding six months last year.

Operating profit during the six months to March 2013 fell by 23% to R311-million, compared with R403-million in the comparative period last year. This was on the back of Nashua Mobile’s 12% decrease in revenue as interconnect rates declined.

Meanwhile, the group’s Reutech division recorded a 2% increase in revenue from R373-million in the first half of 2012, to R381-million in the first half of this year.

The increase was attributed to a continued demand for mining surveillance radars, as well as the additional revenue sourced from the acquisition of the SAAB Grintek business.

However, the one-off costs related to the acquisition of SAAB Grintek, which was now complete, resulted in a 29% decline in operating profit to R49-million.

The group commented that, over the next interim period, it would narrow its focus to “rigorous cost control, effective cash management and extracting efficiencies from its businesses” on the back of tough trading conditions, while planning for and pursuing earnings growth.

Reunert declared a gross cash dividend of 95c for the six months to March 2013.