Chamberlin Plc Regulatory News (CMH)

31 Jan 2007 07:01

Chamberlin & Hill PLC31 January 2007 CHAMBERLIN & HILL PLC (the "Company") 31 January 2007 Trading Statement In the Company's interim statement last November the Board stated that itexpected the Company's underlying profit in the second half to exceed thatreported in the interim results and that the improving trend would be sustainedinto next year. Trading in both the castings and engineering divisions continues to support thisoutlook. However, the new executive team have identified a number of historicissues, predominantly relating to the Company's balance sheet, which will needto be addressed in the Company's accounts for the period ending 31 March 2007. The major category of adjustment relates to stock valuation and ageingsystems. None of these charges are individually large nor expected to berecurring. While the Company continues to expect the underlying performance for the secondhalf of this year to show an improvement over the first half, the recovery inHeavy Castings is proving slower than had been targeted, and the recentstrengthening of Sterling against the Euro has had a negative effect on margins.Together with the adjustments this means that the Company's results for theperiod ending 31 March 2007 will fall materially short of current marketexpectations, with the adjustments accounting for the bulk of the shortfall. The Company also announced in its interim statement that the Heavy Castingsdivision's relocation programme was under review to optimise its costeffectiveness. As a result the decision has been taken to write-off as anexceptional charge certain ex-Bloxwich equipment which the Company no longerexpects to need. The Company's borrowings are modest and are expected to remain so since thegreat majority of the adjustments identified relate to non-cash items. As aresult, the Directors expect the Company's final dividend for the period ending31 March 2007 to be in line with market expectations. The Directors continue to remain confident that the improving underlying trendwill be sustained into next year. For further information, contact details are: Chamberlin & Hill plcTim Hair, CEO 01922 707 100 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange