Artisanal Sp.co Regulatory News (ART)

13 Oct 2005 07:00

Artisan (UK) PLC13 October 2005 Artisan (UK) plc Trading Statement Artisan (UK) plc ("Artisan" or "the Company"), the AIM listed residentialhousing and business park developer today issues the following trading statementahead of the interim results for the six months to 30 September 2005, which itexpects to announce on 29 November 2005. In the interim results statement, the Company expects to confirm that Artisanhas achieved an improvement in sales compared with the previous interim period30 September 2004 in both the Rippon Homes residential housing and the Artisan(UK) Developments commercial business park subsidiary. The Company anticipatesthat trading margins will be only slightly down compared with the previousinterim period. Despite absorbing the costs associated with the departure of the previous ChiefExecutive, we expect our interim announcement to demonstrate the achievement ofresults broadly similar to those announced for the six months to 30 September2004. These resilient results are achieved in the face of a less than favourablehousing market for the majority of the period under review. At the very end ofthis six month period we are seeing signs of improved consumer activity. Actualsales remain largely dependant on part exchanges and sale assistance packages.However our careful management of the Company's part exchange programme hasmaintained Artisan's ability to assist customers in committing to their purchaseof a new home. The residential land buying team is providing an encouraging number of landacquisition opportunities, a number of which are now moving forward. Inparticular we expect to complete shortly on a substantial new site for a minimumof 76 units in Mansfield. The commercial market has remained steady and we are pleased with the continuingreturns that Artisan Developments has achieved. We have now agreed terms on onenew site and made an offer on one further site, with the intention of replacingthose sites where the majority of units have been sold. We will continue to seekfurther sites to modestly expand the number of outlets in order to improve salesopportunities. The outlook for the remainder of the year remains dependant upon the normalseasonal improvement in demand expected in the Autumn and Spring 2006translating into actual sales in the residential market and the current marketconditions remaining in place for our commercial business parks. Enquiries to: Artisan (UK) plc: Chief Executive 01480 436666Chris Musselle email@artisan-plc.co.uk Seymour Pierce Nominated advisers 020 7107 8000Sarah Wharry Bankside Consultants Financial PR advisers 020 7367 8888Simon Rothschild 07703 167065 Company website: www.artisan-plc.co.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange EN