DiscoverIE Regulatory News (DSCV)

30 Jan 2008 07:00

Acal PLC30 January 2008 FOR RELEASE 7:00AM 30 JANUARY 2008 ACAL plc (Leading pan-European, value-added technology based distributor providing specialist design-in, sales and marketing services) SECOND INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT PERIOD COMMENCING 1 APRIL 2007 Acal plc is today issuing its second Interim Management Statement which coversthe period commencing 1 April 2007 to date and includes trading for the ninemonths ended 31 December 2007. On 27 September 2007 Acal plc announced the disposal of the Group's IT Solutionsbusiness for a cash consideration of £41 million. The disposal was conditionalupon approval of the shareholders of Acal plc and merger control clearance. Acircular (the "Circular") was sent to shareholders on 28 September 2007 givingdetails of the disposal and seeking the approval of shareholders at anExtraordinary General Meeting. This approval was received on 19 October 2007.Merger control clearance was received in December and the disposal completed on17 December 2007. The Group's interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2007 (the"Interim Results") were published on 29 November 2007. This Interim Management Statement should be read in conjunction with theCircular and the Interim Results. We stated in the Interim Results that we expected the weak market conditionsbeing experienced both in the Electronics and Parts Services divisions tocontinue until at least the financial year-end. This has indeed proved to be thecase during the quarter ended 31 December 2007 which saw a lower level of salesfrom ongoing activities compared to the corresponding quarter of the previousyear. In Electronics we are continuing to benefit from the growing success of ournewer semiconductor product lines which is helping to mitigate the effect ofweak market conditions. The exception is those parts of Continental Europe wherethe new product lines were introduced more recently and where we have not yetbeen through the design-in period before revenue is generated. Our "funnel" ofnew designs continues to be strong and we remain confident of our ability tosucceed in the longer term. In Parts Services trading conditions remain weak but we are winning new businessand we continue to work on other opportunities which as previously explained cantake some time to convert into contracts. Whilst we expect overall sales from ongoing activities for the year ending 31March 2008 to be lower than in the prior year, with effective management ofmargins and operating costs, we are on track to achieve our pre-tax profitexpectations from ongoing activities for the year. The Group's financial position is strong and there have been no other materialevents or transactions affecting the Group. For further information:- Tony Laughton - Chief Executive 01483 544500 Jim Virdee - Finance Director 01483 544500 Brian Coleman-Smith/James Verstringhe/Nicola Krafft Cubitt Consulting 020 7367 5100 Notes to the Interim Management Statement (a) This Interim Management Statement has been prepared solely to provide additional information to the shareholders of Acal plc, as a body, in order to meet the requirements of the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. (b) The Interim Management Statement may contain forward-looking statements which: • have been made by the directors in good faith based on the information available to them up to the time of their approval of this statement; and • should be treated with caution due to inherent uncertainties, which are beyond Acal's ability to control or estimate precisely and include both economic and business risk factors, underlying such forward looking information. Notes to Editors: 1 The Acal Group is a leading European technology based distributor providing specialist design-in, sales, marketing and other services through two divisions: Electronics and Parts Services. Its value-added philosophy and geographic coverage enables Acal to provide specialist knowledge and support to customers on a pan-European basis. 2 Design-in is the process by which Acal's sales engineers work with customers and suppliers to procure components which meet the specific technical and performance needs of the customers. 3 Acal has operating companies in the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Scandinavia. Westech Electronics, an associated company, is based in Singapore and covers the Far East region. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange