Revenue at Reutech, the defence division of the JSE-listed Reunert group is down for a third semester in a row. Reunert released its results for the financial year ended September 30 this morning and shows Reutech's revenue for the year decreased by 19% to R639.3 million, while operating profit decreased 20% to R48.7 million.

“The contribution from Fuchs was substantially reduced due to the late receipt of an export order. The radar division, through its mining surveillance radars, has had a successful year while the other businesses performed as expected,” the company said in a statement.

In May, Reunert said revue for the semester to March 31 was down 20% “due to the failure of an unidentified client to place an expected order.” Revenue was R308 million with operating profit decreasing by 35% to R14 million. “The contribution from Fuchs was significantly down for the period due to the non-receipt of an export order, which is still expected during the year. The remaining businesses in the division performed as expected,” the company said in a trading statement.

Last November Reunert reported Reutech operating profit had fallen 73% year-on-year mainly as a result of a large follow-on order not materialising. Reunert noted an operating profit for Reutech of just R61 million from R223 million the year before. Revenue at the business was also down 13% from R904 million to R791 million. Reunert chief executive Nick Wentzel was, however, upbeat. “The prospects for receiving this order are good and we hope that we will be successful in 2011,” he said.