DiscoverIE Regulatory News (DSCV)

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7.00am, 10 April 2014

Acal plc

Full Year Trading Update

Acal plc (LSE: ACL, "Acal" or "the Group"), a leading European specialist electronics supplier, is today issuing a trading update for its year ended 31 March 2014, ahead of the announcement of the preliminary results expected to be on 30 May 2014.

Since the last interim management statement on 7 February 2014, trading has continued robustly as anticipated and accordingly, results for the year are expected to be in line with management expectations.

In the Electronics business (now 97% of Group ongoing revenue), sales for the second half were 22% higher than last year. Excluding acquisitions, like-for-like sales were 4% higher.

Electronics orders for the second half were 25% higher than last year. Excluding acquisitions, like-for-like orders were 4% higher. The new financial year starts with an order book that is 35% higher than a year ago, of which approximately one third comes from organic growth and includes a number of large orders, and two thirds comes from acquisitions.

The acquisitions of Myrra, YEG and RSG all continue to perform well and as expected. In particular, Myrra like-for-like orders for the second half increased by 27% on its equivalent pre-acquisition period a year ago, with sales up 20%.

There have been no significant changes to the Group's financial position during the period.

Nick Jefferies, Group Chief Executive commented:

"The second half finished well with Electronics sales growth of 22% and order growth of 25%, being a combination of improving organic performance and well performing acquisitions. We enter the new financial year with a strong order book, which is expected to generate further sales growth through the year.

We are pleased with the performance of all three recent acquisitions. Myrra, our specialist manufacturer of custom electronic magnetic products, has achieved particularly strong organic growth benefiting from the increased financial strength of being part of Acal, while launching cross-selling initiatives across the Group.

Our well established strategy of operating in specialist product areas continues to generate new opportunities for us. We remain focused on delivering organic growth and securing further value enhancing acquisitions."

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Notes to the Interim Management Statement

1. All growth percentages are calculated using constant exchange rates and using provisional year end data.

2. Like-for-like Electronics growth rates exclude acquisitions (the Myrra Group ("Myrra"), Young Electronics Group ("YEG") and RSG Electronics GmbH ("RSG") which were acquired on 4 April 2013, 30 August 2013 and 29 November 2013 respectively).

Notes to Editors:

About Acal plc

Acal is a European leader in advanced technology solutions through two divisions: Electronics and Supply Chain.

The Electronics division designs, manufactures and distributes specialist electronic, photonic and medical products for the industrial and healthcare sectors. It is the only such provider with an infrastructure to deliver a broad range of specialist products and bespoke solutions across Europe. The Electronics division has completed seven acquisitions in the last four years, more than trebling its specialist revenues. Acal's strategy is to further enhance its leadership position through organic growth, complementary acquisitions and continued enhancement of its custom service capabilities. The division has operating companies across Europe including the UK, Germany, France, Benelux, Italy, Poland, Spain and the Nordic region as well as in Asia (China and South Korea) and Africa (South Africa). Businesses comprise Acal BFi, Hectronic, MTC, Myrra Group, RSG, Stortech, Vertec and Young Electronics Group.

The Supply Chain division provides inventory optimisation and outsource solutions to leading technology service providers.