LONDON (Alliance News) - Acal PLC Friday said it expects its results for the current financial year to be in line with consensus, with strong third-quarter sales growth expected to flow into the final quarter of the year as the pick-up in orders reported at the half-year continues to boost the electronics supplier.
In a statement for the period covering October 1 to date, Acal said like-for-like orders, which exclude acquisitions, were 5% higher than the corresponding period last year. It said its acquisitions of Myrra, Young Electronics and RSG are all performing "well and as expected."
"The second half has started well with total Electronics orders 25% higher than last year, resulting from a combination of organic growth and the effect of acquisitions. This is now flowing through into organic sales growth which we expect to be much higher in the final quarter of the year due to a few large orders, and with steady growth then into next year," Nick Jefferies, Chief Executive, said in a statement.
According to the company's statement, the order book for future delivery, mainly covering the fourth quarter and next year, increased by 38% from a year ago. It said about one third of that relates to general order pick up, including a number of large orders, and two thirds relates to acquisitions.
"Market conditions show signs of improvement and we expect the recovery amongst our customers to become more widespread as economies improve. We remain focused on further organic growth, achieving market share gains through our various initiatives and securing further value enhancing acquisitions," Jefferies added.
Acal shares were Friday quoted at 350.00 pence, up 3.00 pence, or 0.9%.
By Samuel Agini; samagini@alliancenews.com; @samuelagini
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