DiscoverIE Regulatory News (DSCV)

19 Jul 2007 07:00

Acal PLC19 July 2007 FOR RELEASE 7:00AM 19 JULY 2007 ACAL plc (Leading pan-European, value-added technology based distributor providing specialist design-in, sales and marketing services) INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT PERIOD COMMENCING 1 APRIL 2007 Acal plc is today issuing its Interim Management Statement which covers theperiod commencing 1 April 2007 to date and includes trading during the quarterended 30 June 2007. Overall, after strong sales in March, the Group saw weaker trading in April andMay but a marked improvement in June. The softness in the market for passive and electromechanical components, whichwe identified at the time of publication of our preliminary results for the yearended 31 March 2007, has persisted throughout the quarter ended 30 June 2007.However, the growing success of our strategy of focusing on higher technologyproducts, primarily specialised semiconductors, continues to be of benefit inoffsetting the effect of this weakness. The Group's IT Solutions business has shown a year-on-year improvement andstabilisation in the Parts Services business has continued. At this stage we believe that we are making satisfactory progress towardsachieving our expectations for the full year. The Group's financial position continues to be strong and there have been nomaterial events or transactions affecting the Group. Acal plc's Annual General Meeting will take place later today. For further information:-Tony Laughton - Chief Executive 01483 544500Jim Virdee - Finance Director 01483 544500Brian Coleman-Smith/James Verstringhe/Leanne Denman 020 7367 5100Cubitt Consulting 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 three divisions: Electronics, Parts Services and IT Solutions. 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