It has been a disappointing start to 2024 for luckless investors in specialist instrument and life-science device-maker Gooch & Housego (GHH).

The company’s share price dropped like a stone in mid-February when the Somerset-based manufacturer warned pre-tax profit for the year to September would be £3 million, missing market expectations.

The firm blamed customers in the industrial and medical laser sectors for reducing their inventories rather than buying new stock after experiencing short-term demand weakness in their end-markets.

In early April, the firm said full-year trading would be in line with its new, lower forecast as de-stocking was seen coming to an end and its order books were growing.

It repeated its full-year guidance with its half-year results, released in June, saying second-half execution risks ‘remain but have been reduced’.

Finally, the firm admitted last week the de-stocking issue was turning out to be more prolonged than expected, while some of this year’s revenue would be delayed into the 2025 financial year due to ‘supplier and customer delivery delays’.

As a result, pre-tax profit is now likely to be £1.5 million, or half its previous, already-lowered target, although the company tried to reassure investors its order book had continued to grow over the summer.

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