Premier Farnell, the worldwide distributor of electronic and industrial components, saw a sharp squeeze on trading performance towards its year end as industrial designers and manufacturers crimped on spending.

Fourth-quarter revenues in the year to February 1 held up at £200m (£198m),as full-year revenue increased from £745m ($1b) to £805m. However, sterling weakness helped flatter the underlying decline, as sales fell by 8 per cent on at constant exchange rates in the final quarter.