ARG.L Regulatory News (ARG)

27 May 2005 11:05

ArmorGroup International plc27 May 2005 27 May 2005 ArmorGroup International plc AGM Statement ArmorGroup International plc, the leading international provider of defensiveprotective security services and security training services, today held itsfirst Annual General Meeting. At the meeting the Chairman, Sir Malcolm Rifkind,made the following statement to shareholders. "Since the publication of the Annual Report & Accounts and as announced on 10May, I am delighted to report that ArmorGroup has been selected by the USDepartment of State to be one of three contractors qualified to bid forsignificant contracts involving Weapons Removal and Abatement Services. Theoverall Department of State budget for this project is currently $500 millionover the next five years We had anticipated originally that this major contract would be awarded earlierin the year and, as a result of the delay, it is now unlikely to have a materialimpact on our results for this financial year. Although the timings for USGovernment contract and task order delivery have been slower than anticipated,this is not unusual in our sector and timescales for government contracts willalways be difficult to forecast. This award gives the business new potential and was a key factor in our decisionlast year to invest in a government contracting division to tender for large,multi-year contracts in the United States and United Kingdom. Consistent withthis strategy is the recent hire of two senior, former government employees:Stephen Kappes in the US, whose appointment we announced on 11 April, andStephen Anderton in the UK, whose appointment I am pleased to announce today asDirector of Projects. Stephen Anderton has recently retired from the RAF as anAir Commodore and will take a lead on assessing UK Government plans to outsourceservices that ArmorGroup is developing. We are hoping also to be successful in winning further contracts with the UK andUS governments in Security Sector Reform. We share their recognition that theactivities of conflict prevention and post-conflict reconstruction arefundamental to enduring peace and stability. ArmorGroup has significantexpertise in this type of work and is positioning itself to support governmentimplementation of these initiatives. While initially requiring some funding, these large, multi-year contracts willmitigate the commercial risk of reliance on business in the Middle East,specifically Iraq, and will provide added visibility of revenue and profit forthe years beyond 2005. Strategically this will take the company along a moreconsistent, predictable financial path and the investment we have made in 2005so far will provide better returns for our shareholders in the future. In conclusion I would like to remind you that the Board made an outlookstatement on 17 March 2005 in which we stated that we were confident that theGroup's performance in 2004 would be surpassed in 2005. The Board remainsconfident of the financial and trading prospects for the full year." Enquiries: ArmorGroup International plcJerry Hoffman, Chief Executive Officer Tel: +44 (0) 20 7808 5800Nick Melson, Communications Manager Citigate Dewe RogersonPatrick Toyne Sewell/Sarah Gestetner Tel: +44 (0) 20 7638 9571 Notes to Editors ArmorGroup International plc. ArmorGroup, which has its headquarters in London and a major office inWashington DC, has over 7,700 employees and operations in over 26 countries. Itprovides its services principally to first world national governments, majorinternational inter-governmental organisations and multinational corporations.It operates principally in regions of the world with diminished law and order orwith a high risk of terrorism or which were former areas of conflict includingthe Middle East, Africa, South America, the CIS and Asia. The Group listed onthe London Stock Exchange in December 2004. For more information please visitwww.armorgroup.com. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange