E2V.L Regulatory News (E2V)

e2v technologies plc

2013 Year end update

e2v technologies plc, the specialist provider of technology solutions for high performance systems, today provides a year end update for the financial year ended 31 March 2013.

Highlights

·; Full year trading performance is expected to be in line with expectations

·; Record year end order book at £195m, an increase of 37% from the prior year

·; Order book for delivery over the next 12 months of £130m, an increase of 10%

·; Significant reduction in net borrowings from £30m to £10m

Keith Attwood, CEO, said:

"The full year trading performance is anticipated to be in line with expectations, reflecting the on-going restructuring and increased flexibility in our cost base which we have utilised to mitigate the challenging trading environment experienced during the year. We have significantly reduced net borrowings and we have built the order book to record levels.

Looking forward, we anticipate modest revenue growth for the coming year, reflecting the strength of our order book. We remain cautious about the broader economic environment, and the potential impact on orders received and delivered in the year.

I would like to thank Chris Geoghegan for his contribution as Chairman, leading us through the major restructuring of both the balance sheet and the business over the last three years. We welcome Neil Johnson as our new Chairman, for the next stage of development of the Group."

Group performance

On 16 May 2012, we disposed of our remaining non-core businesses. Group revenue excluding the disposal businesses for the financial year ended 31 March 2013 is expected to be around £197m, down 10% compared with the last financial year, reflecting challenging markets, delayed order placement and limited progress on space programmes. With the actions taken by management to contain costs and implement our on-going restructuring programmes, the full year trading performance is expected to be in line with expectations.

RF power solutions

Compared to last year RF power solutions revenue is expected to be 5% lower than the prior year.

Radiotherapy was steady compared with the prior year, with anticipated stronger performance in the final quarter. As previously announced, we signed multi-year contracts with Accuray and Elekta in total worth a minimum of £60m over the next five years.

Electronic countermeasures has delivered good growth from its continuing programmes including the ALE-55 programme for the F18 Super Hornet. We have concluded work on our existing development contract for the F15 and are supporting initial flight trials.

In industrial processing systems, we have completed work on the initial phase of our development programme with our strategic partner Rio Tinto.

As anticipated, activity in the remaining product lines within the division is lower than the prior year reflecting reduced demand in these mature commercial and industrial markets.

High performance imaging solutions

High performance imaging is expected to report revenue around 3% lower than the prior year.

Scientific imaging revenue is lower than anticipated, reflecting softer end user demand.

Machine vision is experiencing more modest growth in demand for industrial process control applications than anticipated. This sector performed more strongly in the second half through the take up of our new CMOS based line scan camera for high end applications.

The space imaging recovery programme has delivered growth in the second half reflecting achievement of milestones on a number of programmes. This business by nature will remain technically challenging. Order intake in space has remained strong and we were pleased to announce the £8.5m order for the European Space Agency's (ESA) Euclid space science mission, as well as securing other orders for Sentinel 4 and a US programme.

The remaining product lines within the division have shown good growth reflecting strong demand, primarily for our dental sensors and the new product introductions in thermal imaging.

Hi-rel semiconductor solutions

In Hi-rel semiconductor solutions revenue is lower by 25%.

In SLiM™, revenue is lower reflecting the anticipated reduction in the 68k microprocessor revenue. The estimated future revenue from our portfolio of SLIM™ programmes outside our order book has increased to £24m.

In aerospace and defence semiconductors, revenue is lower reflecting the deferral of anticipated orders on defence programmes as funds have not been flowing down the supply chain, reflecting market uncertainty particularly in the US. In our European test and assembly business that mainly serves the space market, we have also seen reduced level of activity reflecting lower US demand.

The revenue profile includes the anticipated decline in the smart sensor business, as we support customers during product withdrawal.

Order Book

The Group's total order book as at 31 March 2013 was at £195m, a record level for the Group (31 March 2012: £143m). This represents an increase of 37%, £57m since the half year (30 September 2012: £138m).

The order book for delivery over the coming 12 months was £130m (31 March 2012: £118m), an increase of 10%. This now includes a full 12 month of radiotherapy order cover offsetting the change in mix as the prior year included £6m of order book relating to the non-core businesses.

Net Borrowings

Net borrowings (see note 2) at 31 March 2013 were approximately £10m (31 March 2012: £30m). In the second half, net borrowings have reduced by approximately £18m (30 September 2012: £28m). This decrease reflects strong operating cash generation and the gross proceeds of £5.9m received from the sale of land in Grenoble announced in December 2012.

Our inventory reduction programme has delivered a modest net reduction through improvement in general inventory levels.

Further enquiries:

Notes to editors

1. The full year results will be announced on 20 May 2013

2. Net borrowings exclude capitalised borrowing costs.

3. All financial information included in this release is sourced from unaudited management accounts and excludes any exceptional items.

4. Statements made in this announcement that look forward in time or that express management's beliefs, expectations or estimates regarding future occurrences are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the United States federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements reflect the Group's current expectations concerning future events and actual results may differ materially from current expectations or historical results.