Ten Cate Profit Falls on Cutbacks in U.S. Defense Spending

Koninklijke Ten Cate NV (KTC), the maker for soldier protective clothing, reported a 19 percent decline in profit amid reductions in U.S. defense spending.

Profit last year was 22.3 million euros ($29 million) compared with 58.7 million euros a year earlier, the Almelo, Netherlands-based company said in a statement today. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated 31 million euros.

“The unexpectedly sharp decrease in sales in the U.S. defense market resulted in a significant reduction in the sales of Ten Cate Defender-M and the armor portfolio,” Chief Executive Officer and President Loek de Vries. U.S. elections and a budget standoff in Washington last year “had a major impact on the performance of the group as a whole.”

Cost cuts could not offset the sharp decline in sales, de Vries said in the statement. The company is cutting staff to adjust to reduced demand with 15 million euros in personnel- related restructuring costs last year.

Ten Cate said it also suffered delays in deliveries on a contract for the Airbus SAS A350 deliveries, impinging on the otherwise “positive picture” in its aerospace activities.

The board proposed a dividend of of 0.50 euros, compared with 0.95 euros a year-prior, as sales declined 8 percent to 1 billion euros.

Ten Cate shares have declined 7 percent this year, closing yesterday at 18.5 euros in trading in Amsterdam valuing the business at 489.8 million euros.

To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Wall in London at rwall6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Benedikt Kammel at bkammel@bloomberg.net