Glyn Bottomley, Chief Executive of Manroy, commented: "The Board is encouraged that the Manroy order book and pipeline remains strong and we look forward to announcing further positive contract wins in the near future. As substantial shareholders, the Directors all share in the frustration arising from the continued delay to the export order referred to above, but remain confident that this will be obtained."
ORDER UPDATE FOR YEAR ENDING 30 SEPTEMBER 2013 Manroy Plc ("Manroy" or the "Company"), the AIM quoted UK defence contractor, announces an update on its forward order book for the financial year ending 30 September 2013. The order book and pipeline of Manroy for the current financial year are at record levels and negotiations are at an advanced stage in respect of significant orders, in addition to those previously announced. Accordingly, the Board remains confident that Manroy will at least match market expectations of revenues for the year ending 30 September 2013. The achievement of market expectations is not reliant on the Company securing the £8.0m export order referred to in Manroy's announcement on 13 September 2012. Whilst the Board remains confident this order will be won, it is now expected to be awarded during 2013.
Interim dividend and results Given the improved position of the Group, and to emphasise our confidence in the future, the Board expects to reinstate an interim dividend of 0.7p when the Company announces its results for the six months ended 30 November 2012. The Company expects to release its interim results for the six months ended 30 November 2012 in the week commencing 25 February 2013.
2014 Financial Year The Board is confident that the Group will see both revenue and margin improvement during the 2014 financial year, which will deliver results marginally above previous Board expectations. Coupled with an improved and more robust balance sheet, the Board believes that the recent transformational transactions place the Group in a much stronger position for the future, both financially and strategically.
utlook 2013 Financial Year Sales Revenues for the year are expected to be in line with original Board expectations, with the loss of revenue replaced by revenue streams from PFW and Aerotech in the second half of the 2013 financial year. However, in the short term, the margins realised from sales at PFW and Aerotech will not compensate for the loss of margin in respect of Jena Tec, which will impact profitability for the 2013 financial year. The Group will realise an exceptional profit in respect of the disposal of Jena Tec of approximately £8m and will incur exceptional costs of £0.35m in respect of the acquisitions of PFW and Aerotech. Net debt for the full year will be materially lower than previous Board expectations, with the cash proceeds received from the disposal of Jena Tec, partially offset by the cash consideration in respect of the PFW and Aerotech acquisitions, further capital investment, particularly in respect of China, and the immediate working capital requirements at PFW. However, we have chosen not to pay back all of the Group debt at this time - mortgages on properties and equipment leases being left mostly intact.
Avingtrans (AIM:AVG), a manufacturer of critical components and associated services to the global aerospace, energy and medical sectors is pleased to announce an update on trading in light of the recent transactions completed by the Group. Summary of recent transactions (the "Recent Transactions") On 5 November 2012, the Company announced the sale of Jena Tec, its Industrial division, for a cash consideration of £13.45m and we also set out a clearly defined strategy focussed on the Group's two core divisions: Aerospace and Energy & Medical. In line with this strategy, the Company subsequently announced the acquisitions of certain assets of PFW Farnborough ("PFW") for £1.85m (announced 16 November) and Aerotech Tubes ("Aerotech") for £2m (announced 26 November), which have propelled the business into a leading position in Europe in the Aerospace pipes market. The sale of Jena Tec, and the subsequent acquisitions described above, provides us with a more focused business, and a stronger balance sheet, which will enable us to invest in each of these businesses and pursue opportunities which we would otherwise have been unable to target. Consistent with this strategy, we will continue to seek further value enhancing acquisitions to build on the Group's position in our core Aerospace and Energy & Medical divisions.
David Theriault, Asia Business Development for Ubisense, commented: "Daifuku is the established leader in Japan. The outstanding partnership that we have developed with Daifuku will enable both of us rapidly to introduce these critically important location solutions to an incredibly broad range of manufacturing companies in the region. This partnership will greatly increase the value we can provide to our customers, and accelerate their return on investment."
Daifuku enters into Strategic Partnership with Ubisense RTLS solutions for next generation Material Handling Systems Cambridge, England and Tokyo, Japan - Ubisense Group Plc ("Ubisense" or the "Company") (LSE:UBI), a market leader in location solutions technology, is pleased to announce that Daifuku has selected Ubisense for their next generation material handling systems. Daifuku, the world's leading material handling company supplying global automotive manufacturing leaders have selected Ubisense location solutions for integration into their comprehensive material handling and warehouse management system. The system is in direct response to manufacturing and logistics companies who need to have more visibility and control of their industrial processes. Ubisense's solution will be showcased at the company's demonstration facilities in Shiga prefecture in Japan. This purpose-built facility of more than 200,000 sq. meters demonstrates increased productivity in a number of production scenarios pick to light, pick to voice, product identification/verification, personnel safety, line side supply and AGVs. "The scope of applications is enormous", says Yo****aka Watanabe, Chairman of Daifuku DIT. "We see an enormous number of applications for location and identification in manufacturing and distribution facilities for our customers. Ubisense enables us to build the next generation of Smart Factories."
Gavin Lyons, Chief Executive of Accumuli, commented: "DDAM is a valuable tool that allows organisations to gain a better understanding as to what devices are being used on their networks and if their users are accessing potentially harmful sites. This recent sale to a large, multinational organisation is validation of our best-in-class technology offering and the high quality of our internal product development capabilities."
Accumuli wins contract for its proprietary core network services activity product Accumuli plc (AIM:ACM), an independent specialist in IT Security, is pleased to announce that it has secured a contract, for a six figure value, with a leading UK headquartered financial services organisation for its proprietary core network services activity product, DDAM. DDAM is a Domain Name System ("DNS") and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol ("DHCP") Activity Monitor ("DDAM"). DDAM has been designed and created by the Company's own in-house development team to enable clients to gain visibility of their core network services. The product helps organisations monitor device and user behaviour and detect unauthorised usage. DDAM can be configured to alert on predefined criteria such as rogue devices joining networks and users accessing known bad hosts. By alerting on known bad entities, organisations can react to potential misuse. DDAM, which has the capability to be monitored via a Security Information Event Management ("SIEM") platform, can also be integrated into Accumuli's own managed SIEM service and platform.
Strategy and outlook It is pleasing to be able to report another year of growth in both profits and total dividend. The Group's strong balance sheet and strength in depth of specialists gives us a significant advantage over many of our competitors. We continue to make progress in the pursuit of an appropriate acquisition and hope to make a further announcement in due course. In summary, we have a strong auction book for 2013 and are well placed to continue to build upon the foundations laid in the last decade.
Ian Goldbart, Managing Director of Noble, commented: "We are pleased to report that Noble continued to make progress over the last 12 months. As a result, the Group has produced annual increases in pre-tax profits and dividends in each of the last 7 years. Our auction business was the key driver of growth during the year and has started the current financial year with a significant order book of important consignments. Demand for high quality rare items continued to outstrip supply which resulted in lower retail figures as more sellers chose the auction route. However the retail division still produced a significant contribution to the overall performance of the Group. The current trading period will benefit from the David Fore Collection of British India coins, to be sold at auction during 2013 in three parts, together with several other important consignments which will give us a strong base to build upon for the rest of the year".
Operational highlights: · Exceptionally busy auction department with major collections consigned and sold such as The Bentley Collection (part 1), The Prospero Collection and The Islamic Rarities Collection. · Demand for high quality coins continues to outstrip supply. · Baldwin's became the Official 2012 Coinex auction sponsor and Apex signed a three year agreement to become Official Stampex sponsor. · Andre de Clermont joined Baldwin's to aid the development of the Islamic and Indian retail and auction departments. · Apex Philatelic launched its new website. · Baldwin's secured The David Fore collection of British India coinage for auction in 2013 together with several other significant collections. · Baldwin's celebrates 140 years of service since being founded in 1872.
Noble Investments (UK) PLC, the international rare coin, banknote, medal and stamp dealer and auctioneer, is pleased to announce its preliminary results for the year ended 31 August 2012. Financial highlights: · Pre-tax profits up 23% to £3.7m (2011: £3.0m) · Basic earnings per share up 24% to 18.89p (2011.15.27p) · Total recommended dividend of 5.25p, up 22% (2011: 4.30p) · Strong, ungeared balance sheet with net asset value of £17.4m (2011:£15.0m)
Tim Woolley, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "In markets which continue to be turbulent it is encouraging to report continued strong inflows over the period. In particular, we saw good inflows into our Emerging Markets Income fund, our North American fund and our Healthcare fund. On the hedge side it was pleasing to see a return to net inflows over the period, albeit at a more modest level than the long only side. All these trends continue to enhance the Group's diversification. Our financial position remains robust. This combined with our continued good performance, the investment we have made in teams and the support functions over the last few years positions us well for further growth in the year ahead barring a sell-off in markets."