(Alliance News) - RWS Holdings PLC said Tuesday its revenue for financial 2020 is expected to be within the range of market expectations.
The translation and localisation and intellectual property service said its revenue for the year ended September 30 is expected to be "not less than" GBP355 million, which is flat on GBP355.7 million the year before.
"This reflects a resilient underlying business performance, particularly given the disruption caused by Covid-19 to our intellectual property and general language translation businesses," RWS said.
Adjusted pretax profit is also expected to be in line with market expectations.
RWS said it experienced increased demand for services within both its Life Sciences and Moravia divisions, as those units helped with the clinical trials for new Covid-19 vaccines.
The pandemic, however, hurt its IP unit, with delayed onboarding of new clients.
Chair Andrew Brode said: "The group has delivered a resilient performance, reflecting its diversified revenue streams across its three specialised divisions, with stronger levels of activity in Life Sciences and Moravia mitigating headwinds in IP Services."
"We are delighted that at last week's general meetings the shareholders of both RWS and SDL PLC voted overwhelmingly in favour of the business combination and we look forward to completing the transaction which will create the world's leading provider of language services and technology," Brode added.
Back in August, the two unveiled plans for an all-share tie-up with a view of creating "the world's leading language services and technology group". Under the terms of the deal, SDL shareholders will be entitled to receive 1.2246 new RWS shares for each SDL share they own.
RWS said its underlying pre-IFRS 16 basis at September 30 is GBP15 million, and GBP38 million on an IFRS 16 basis.
"The group's strong cash generation and liquidity means it is well positioned during this uncertain period to fund both its strategy and its progressive dividend policy," RWS added.
Brode said: "Whilst we are not reinstating financial guidance at this stage, due to ongoing market uncertainty, the group has a strong platform from which to continue to deliver resilient performance and to integrate the SDL acquisition effectively.
"The group's focus on Life Sciences and technology customers, who are thought to be likely beneficiaries in a post Covid-19 world, and the importance to our customers of managing their research and development investments through a strong global patent strategy, puts RWS in a strong position."
Shares in RWS Holdings were down 3.6% in London on Tuesday at 582.27 pence each.
By Paul McGowan; paulmcgowan@alliancenews.com
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RWS Holdings (RWS)