Premier Farnell to sell industrial products division

REUTERS - Engineering supply group Premier Farnell Plc said it would sell its industrial products division Akron Brass and stop direct operations in Brazil after it forecast a fall in first-half adjusted operating profit.

The company, which makes and sells the Raspberry Pi - a mini, low-cost computer its founders created to help millions of people get online and learn to code, said it would rebase its dividend policy and target dividend cover in the range of 1.5 times to 2 times going forward.

The latest move will deliver 4 million pounds ($6 million) in benefit for this year, the company said.

Premier Farnell said in July that it expected a 10 percent decline in first-half adjusted operating profit after sales growth per day in its main North American and UK markets slowed in the second quarter.

Premier Farnell, which started out as a radio parts seller in 1939, said on Thursday that it now expected full-year adjusted operating profit to be between 73 million pounds to 77 million pounds.

The company reported adjusted operating profit of 88 million pounds last year.

Premier Farnell's Akron Brass business makes and sells high- performance fire-fighting equipment for fire truck manufacturers, public fire services and industrial facilities.

Akron Brass accounted for about 7.5 percent of the company's total revenue in the first half of this year.

($1 = 0.6450 pounds)

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)