ECM.L Regulatory News (ECM)

28 May 2008 07:00



Embargoed to 7:00am, Wednesday 28 May 2008

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

Electrocomponents plc, the leading high service distributor to engineers worldwide, today announces its results for the year ended 31 March 2008. 

SUMMARY OF RESULTS

	2008	2007 (restated)	Change
Revenue	£924.8m	£877.5m	5%(1)
Profit before tax - headline	£96.4m	£86.4m	12%
Profit before tax - reported	£95.4m	£87.2m	9%
Earnings per share - headline	14.8p	13.1p	13%
Earnings per share - reported	14.7p	13.2p	11%
Dividend per share	18.4p	18.4p	-
Free cash flow	£75.0m	£45.3m	66%

(1) Adjusted for exchange rates and the number of trading days

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS 

Headline profit before tax growth of 12%.

Continued strong revenue growth in our International Business of 8% with North America growing at 10%, Asia Pacific 15% and Europe 6%.

The UK has continued to grow sales by 1% in the year and has delivered profit growth of £3m.

Operating cost leverage delivered and the cost reduction target of £10m of annualised savings met.

Strong cash flow of £75m, up by 66% on the prior year, driven by improving stock turn and lower capital expenditure. 

Increased return on capital employed from 21% to 24%.

OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

Sales growth driven by the enhanced offer to R&D engineers with further new technology introductions, improved web functionality and joint supplier promotions.

e-Commerce sales growing by 16% and e-commerce's share of Group revenue exiting at 33%.

35% revenue growth in China driven by customer acquisition.

Group gross margin stable for 18 months with the benefits of better product buying being delivered.

The roll-out of EBS in Europe and Asia Pacific complete and benefits delivered including stock turn improvement from 2.7 to 2.9 times.

CAPITAL STRUCTURE AND DIVIDEND

2008 dividends maintained at 18.4p in line with the previous commitment.

2009 dividends to remain at 18.4p comprising an ordinary dividend of 11.0p and a special dividend of 7.4p.

Progressive ordinary dividend policy to be pursued at earnings pay out ratio of 65%.

Further returns supported by the Group's strong balance sheet.

DRIVERS OF FUTURE PERFORMANCE

Focus on fast growing international markets.

Accelerate R&D and Maintenance offer development.

Exploit the full potential of e-commerce.

Leverage global infrastructure and increase operating margins.

HELMUT MAMSCH, CHAIRMAN, COMMENTED:

"This has been a successful year for the business with double digit headline profit growth, strong cash flow delivery, completion of the EBS implementation in Europe and the £10m cost reduction target being met.  It is very pleasing to see that both the International and the UK businesses have delivered profit growth."

"Going forward the Board has decided to pursue a policy in relation to future dividend payments and the Group's capital structure that ensures that shareholders receive a sustainable dividend that is able to grow progressively with earnings in the future, whilst delivering an efficient balance sheet and financial metrics that assist investors to value the business on its fundamentals."

IAN MASON, GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, COMMENTED:

"Over the last few years the Group has built a strong platform for growth with leading positions in growing international markets, world class global infrastructure and systems and a stable and profitable UK business. We are now well placed to drive future performance through International sales growth, accelerating R&D and maintenance offer development, exploiting the full potential of 

e-commerce, leveraging our global infrastructure and increasing operating margins."

CURRENT TRADING AND OUTLOOK

In the first eight weeks of the new financial year Group revenue has grown at around 2% year on year. The International business has grown revenue by around 5% and the UK business has declined by around 2%.  

While being mindful of general macro economic conditions the Board believes that the Group will benefit from its strong competitive position and its clear strategy to drive future performance. 

Enquiries:

Helmut Mamsch, Chairman	Electrocomponents plc	020 7567 8000*
Ian Mason, Group Chief Executive	Electrocomponents plc	020 7567 8000*
Simon Boddie, Group Finance Director	Electrocomponents plc	020 7567 8000*
John Sunnucks / David Allchurch	Tulchan Communications	020 7353 4200

* Available to 15:00 on 28 May 2008, thereafter 01865 204000

The results and presentation to analysts are published on the corporate website at www.electrocomponents.com

Definitions of terms:

In order to reflect underlying business performance, comparisons of revenue between periods have been adjusted for exchange rates and the number of trading days. Changes in profit, cash flow, debt and share related measures such as earnings per share are at reported exchange rates.

Enterprise Business System (EBS): in order to make clear the costs of the EBS project and the underlying performance of the business, EBS costs have been disclosed separately. Therefore, unless explicitly stated, measures based on operating costs, contribution and process costs exclude EBS.

Headline profit: a charge of £1.0m (2007: profit of £0.8m) was incurred in the year for items excluded from headline profit. Details of the items are given below the Income Statement. Key performance measures such as return on sales, EBITDA and ROCE use headline profit figures.  

2007 (restated): in light of proposed amendments to IAS 38, Intangible Assets, the Group's Directors have decided to make a voluntary change to the policy to write off catalogue production and print costs as they are incurred. There is no change to profit in 2008 and in 2007 pre tax profit increased by £2m. Further detail is provided in note 11.

Notes to editors:

Electrocomponents Group plc is the leading high service distributor to engineers worldwide. The company which was founded in 1937 is listed on the London Stock Exchange, employs around 5,700 people and has operations in 27 countries, serving another 38 countries through distributors. The Group satisfies the small quantity needs of its customers who are typically research and development ('R&D') or maintenance engineers in business. Electrocomponents sells around half a million products to 1.6m customers, through catalogues, over the internet and through trade counters. Some of the products the Group sells include electronic, electrical, mechanical, automation and health and safety components. The offer to engineers is valuable to many of our 2,500 suppliers, who would otherwise find the small order and immediate dispatch requirements of such customers difficult and costly to satisfy. 

A large number of high quality goods are stocked, which are dispatched the same day that the order is received. The average customer order value is around £100 although the range of order values is wide.  The Group has a large number of customers from a wide range of industry sectors with diverse product demands. 

  CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT ON THE PRELIMINARY RESULTS 

INTRODUCTION

The Group has had a good year with sales growth of 5%, headline profit before tax of £96m, some 12% higher than last year and a strong cash flow of £75m. The UK Business grew sales for the second successive year and delivered higher profits whilst our International Business increased profit by around £6m. In addition, the gross margin has been stable for 18 months.

We are pleased with the benefits realised from EBS to date; in particular the increase in the Group's stock turn from 2.7 times last year to 2.9 times this year. We have maintained our focus on creating a lower cost infrastructure and our actions across many areas in the year have achieved a further £2.6m of annualised cost savings. We have met the £10m target we set in May 2005.

STRATEGY

The new strategic direction announced in May 2005 has contributed to the significant improvement in the Group's performance over the last two years. The Board has now reviewed the next stage in the implementation of the strategy and the output from this review is set out in the Strategic Update section. This highlights the four drivers of future growth for the Business:

Focus on fast growing international markets, which represent today more than 60% of the Group's revenue, whilst delivering a stable UK performance.

Accelerate research and development and maintenance offer development.

Exploit the full potential of e-commerce.

Leverage global infrastructure and increase operating margins.

CAPITAL STRUCTURE AND DIVIDEND

In 2005 the Board announced that it would maintain the dividend for the following three years. For the full year to 31 March 2008 the dividend will be maintained at 18.4p per share, which is the final year of this three year commitment.

 

The Board has decided to pursue a policy in relation to future dividend payments and the Group's capital structure that ensures that shareholders receive a sustainable dividend that is able to grow progressively with earnings in the future, whilst delivering an efficient balance sheet and financial metrics that assist investors to value the business on its fundamentals.

The future dividend and capital structure policy has two main elements:

Ordinary dividends

The ordinary dividend for 2009 will be rebased to 11p per share, which would represent pay out ratios of 74% of headline earnings and 64% of free cash flow based on the 2008 financial results. The ordinary dividend will be paid in two instalments; an interim dividend of 5p per share payable in January 2009 and a final dividend of 6p per share payable in July 2009. The Board intends to pursue a progressive dividend policy once the earnings payout ratio reaches 65%.

Special dividends

It is proposed that a special dividend of 7.4p per share will be declared for payment in July 2009 in order to maintain the total dividend payment for the year ending 31 March 2009 at the current level of 18.4p per share.

The Group has a strong balance sheet with net debt to EBITDA of 1.2 times for the financial year. It is proposed that further returns should be paid over time based upon the performance of the business, the future investment needs of the Group, and the potential to progressively increase net debt. The Board has set a target gearing ratio for the Group of net debt being in a range of 1.3 to 1.8 times EBITDA.

  PEOPLE

To enable the business to meet its customers' expectations and improve results, we are reliant on the contribution and dedication of all our people. The work undertaken by our team in Allied, our North American business, to move to their new office and warehouse premises, deserves particular mention this year. On behalf of the Board, I wish to thank everyone for their hard work.

As we previously announced, Keith Hamill will be retiring at the Annual General Meeting after nine years on the Board. The Board is grateful for the broad contribution that he has made to the business over the years.

Paul Hollingworth has been appointed to the Board as a Non-Executive Director. Paul is a Director and Chief Financial Officer of Mondi Group, the integrated paper and packaging group. Previously, he was Group Finance Director of BPB plc and prior to that, of De La Rue plc and Ransomes plc. Paul brings a wealth of experience to the Board, including his strong international financial expertise. 

CURRENT TRADING AND OUTLOOK

In the first eight weeks of the new financial year Group revenue has grown at around 2% year on year. The International business has grown revenue by around 5% and the UK business has declined by around 2%.

While being mindful of general macro economic conditions the Board believe that the Group will benefit from its strong competitive position and its clear strategy to drive future performance.

Helmut Mamsch, Chairman

28 May 2008

  

STRATEGIC UPDATE 

Strategic and Financial Progress

In May 2005, the Group refocused its strategy and defined three clear objectives:

Focus on two customer groups: R&D engineers (EEM) and Maintenance engineers (MRO)

Implement the Enterprise Business System (EBS) in Europe and Asia Pacific

Reduce the cost base by £10m p.a.

The implementation of the new strategy has proceeded well with the clearer focus on R&D engineers and Maintenance engineers supporting growth across the Group. The implementation of EBS in Europe and Asia Pacific is complete, benefits are being delivered and the £10m p.a. cost saving target has been met. Since 2006 headline operating profit has increased by £27m and free cash flow has increased by £48m.

The Group is an increasingly diverse business that operates in 27 countries directly and another 38 via distributors. 61% of sales now come from International markets. It sells to 1.6m customers worldwide who are based in a broad range of service and manufacturing industries.

 

Competitive Position

The Group has now built a strong platform for growth. It has:

Leading positions in growing markets for high service distribution. The Group is the number one high-service distributor internationally having been the first to globalise its operations. It has delivered strong International sales growth of around 10% p.a. since March 2004.

World-class global infrastructure and systems including a global e-commerce platform, integrated systems, centralised purchasing and supplier management and global inventory, logistics and supply-chain management.

Strong R&D, maintenance and e-commerce customer propositions. The Group distributes the broadest range of technologies for R&D engineers and has the leading high-service offer for maintenance engineers worldwide. Our e-commerce capabilities are leading edge, with 70 transactional web sites in 17 languages that are constantly developing in innovative new ways.

A stable and profitable UK business.

Growth Drivers

The Board has reviewed the strategy of the business going forward and has identified four key areas of focus that will drive future performance:

Focus on fast growing international markets.

Accelerate development of the Group's R&D and Maintenance offers.

Exploit the full potential of e-commerce.

Leverage the Group's global infrastructure and increase operating margins.

 

Focus on fast growing international markets

There is significant growth potential in the three International regions of Asia Pacific, Continental Europe and North America. The greatest opportunity is in Asia Pacific where the Group is investing to accelerate future revenue growth with a particular focus on China.

Accelerate the development of the Group's R&D and maintenance offers

The Group is accelerating the expansion of its product range for R&D engineers, as well as deepening its relationship with select, world-class electronic suppliers. New industry-standard packaging options, at competitive prices, were recently introduced on over 40,000 products in the major markets of Europe and the UK. This expands the Group's customer base to a large potential market beyond R&D engineers to customers involved in prototyping and small batch manufacturing. The initial customer reaction to the launch has been positive.

To develop our offer to maintenance engineers the Group is focused on enhancing and more effectively promoting its ranges in high growth areas such as Process Control and Automation (PCA). Ranges in areas where customers do not value an extensive choice are being rationalised.  The range of own brand products is being expanded to drive both sales and profitability and global product sourcing is increasing.

Exploit the full potential of e-Commerce

Although the catalogue remains an important channel for our customers, e-commerce represents an opportunity to fundamentally enhance many aspects of our business model. Rapid growth of this channel has taken e-commerce sales to 33% of Group revenue. e-commerce enables the Group to more rapidly introduce new products, as it reduces the constraint of the traditional annual catalogue publication cycle. It enables the Group to offer a wider product range than is practical in a paper catalogue; an ability that has already been successfully exploited by selling the Group's US and Japanese extended ranges to UK and European customers. 

Customers are being encouraged to switch to e-commerce and as a result our ability to reduce off-line costs is increasing.  In addition, e-commerce is helping the Group form deeper relationships with key suppliers, for example by embedding supplier-generated content in the Group's site and providing links from supplier sites.

Leverage the Group's global infrastructure and increase operating margins

International growth is driving operating cost leverage through economies of scale and the exploitation of fixed costs within the Group's cost base.  There is significant scope for the Group to achieve further operating cost leverage as the business expands. The Group's past investment in its EBS systems is now providing cost benefits in many areas, including inventory cost management and more sophisticated, targeted discounting. Additionally the Group is targeting further cost saving opportunities.

Performance Framework

The Group has set a five year performance framework which includes a number of Key Performance Indicators.

	KPI's	2008
International sales growth	7%-10% p.a.	8%
International share of Group sales	70%	61%
UK Contribution	Stable	Increasing
Sales via e-commerce	50%+	33%(1)
Underlying gross margin	Stable	Stable
Cost as % of sales (2)	Reducing	Reducing(3)
Capex	Below depreciation(4)	Below depreciation(4)
Return on Capital employed(5)	25%+	24%

(1) Exit rate

(2) International and Process costs

(3) Excluding the one off North American warehouse move costs

(4) Including amortisation

(5) Headline operating profit expressed as a percentage of net assets plus net debt

 

 

OPERATING PERFORMANCE AND KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Operating Performance	2008	2007  (5)  (restated)
Revenue	£924.8m	£877.5m
Gross margin	50.2%	50.5%
Contribution	£203.2m	£194.2m
Group Process costs	(£85.1m)	(£82.9m)
EBS costs	(£14.4m)	(£19.0m)
Headline operating profit	£103.7m	£92.3m
Interest (net)	(£7.3m)	(£5.9m)
Headline profit before tax	£96.4m	£86.4m
Headline earnings per share	14.8p	13.1p
Dividend per share	18.4p	18.4p
Key Performance Indicators	2008	2007 (5) (restated)
Group sales growth	5.4%	9.0%
International	8.4%	14.5%
UK	0.9%	1.9%
e-Commerce revenue share	31%	28%
Headline Group return on sales(1)	11.2%	10.5%
Headline EBITDA (2)	£130.9m	£120.2m
Free cash flow	£75.0m	£45.3m
Headline ROCE (3)	24.0%	21.2%
Stock turn (per year)	2.9x	2.7x
Revenue per head (4) (£'000)	162	161
Number of customers	1.6m	1.5m

 

(1) Headline operating profit expressed as a percentage of revenue

(2) Headline earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation

(3)  Headline operating profit expressed as a percentage of net assets plus net debt

(4) Revenue on a like for like basis (2008 and 2007) adjusting for trading days and foreign exchange

(5) 2007 (restated): in light of proposed amendments to IAS 38, Intangible Assets, the Group's Directors have

decided to make a voluntary change to the policy to write off catalogue production and print costs as they

are incurred. There is no change to profit in 2008 and in 2007 pre tax profit increased by £2m. Further detail

is provided in note 11.

Business Performance

Headline profit before tax has increased by £10.0m (11.6%). The main contributors to this performance were growth of our International (£5.7m) and UK (£3.3m) businesses and reducing EBS costs (£4.6m). Partially offsetting these improvements, Process costs and interest costs increased by £2.2m and £1.4m respectively.

At constant foreign exchange rates (principally adjusting for the strengthening Euro), the headline profit before tax has increased by 10.7%.

Our International Business has increased its contribution principally due to continued strong sales growth. The UK Business's contribution improved as sales grew for the second successive year and strong operating leverage reduced operating costs by 1% point as a percentage of revenue.

Process costs, as a percentage of revenue, reduced by 0.2% points, again demonstrating the cost leverage capability of the business.

EBS costs were reduced with the completion of the implementations in Europe and Asia Pacific early in the financial year. 

e-Commerce

e-Commerce is a key enabler for many of our initiatives. It allows the Group to make a very wide range of products available globally at lower cost. During the year, the UK, European and International Distributor network websites were replaced with significantly updated and improved new sites. These have provided immediate benefits for our customers including: 

an improved intuitive search and browse solution

the provision of information on local product availability and pricing

the capability to introduce new products and information on a daily basis

Customer reaction has been positive. The equivalent new sites were launched across our Asia Pacific business in April. 

e-Commerce revenue growth has been strong at 16%. From its start in the UK in 1998, this highly effective and customer oriented channel has now grown to nearly a third of the Group's revenue for the year, with an exit rate of 33% in March. This includes a 64% revenue share in Japan, 37% in the UK and 35% across Europe.

Gross margin

All the Group's regions have recorded increased gross profit. Group gross profit was up from £443.5m last year, to £464.7m this year.

The Group's gross margin has been stable for the last 18 months. The gross margin has benefited from the actions taken across the Group to reduce product costs including rationalisation of the maintenance range, own brand growth and extending Far East sourcing.

Operating costs

The Group's management continues to focus on controlling operating costs which reduced as a percentage of revenue by 1.1% points after adjusting for the North American premises move.

During the year, further actions have been undertaken to realise some £2.6m of annualised cost reductions. These actions have been applied across many areas of the business and included headcount and logistics cost savings with the associated reorganisation costs totalling £1.0m.

Cumulative cost savings now stand at £10.2m: exceeding the £10m annualised target set in May 2005.

Cash flow and net debt 

The Group's free cash flow improved significantly during the year, up to £75.0m. This is a £29.7m improvement on the previous financial year. This was due to higher profits together with other significant activities during the year. These activities included the delivery of EBS benefits which provided improved stock management in Europe and the UK and resulted in increased stock turn. In addition, capital expenditure on EBS and the North American warehouse were lower this year.

Net debt was £151.1m at 31 March 2008, £14.9m higher than last year with interest cover remaining high at 14x. Net debt to EBITDA was 1.2x. The pension deficit (net of deferred tax) fell by £5.2m to £23.9m.

INTERNATIONAL

	2008	2007 (restated)
Revenue	£566.8m	£521.3m
Revenue growth	8.4%	14.5%
Gross margin	48.5%	48.7%
Operating costs % of revenue	(30.5%)	(30.2%)
Contribution	£102.3m	£96.6m
% of revenue	18.0%	18.5%

The International business is increasing its share of the Group, now representing over 60% of the Group's revenues. The International business comprises Continental Europe (56% of revenue of the International business), North America (29%) and Asia Pacific (15%). 

Gross margin was stable during the year. The business again demonstrated operating cost leverage with costs (after adjusting for the North American office and warehouse move) as a percentage of revenue reducing by 0.1% points from the previous year.

Continental Europe

	2008	2007 (restated)
Revenue	£316.2m	£287.5m
Revenue growth	5.7%	10.1%
Contribution	£71.0m	£65.1m
% of revenue	22.5%	22.6%

The Continental Europe business comprises eight separate businesses. France, Germany and Italy are the largest which in total make up about 75% of the region's revenue. The five smaller businesses are Austria, Benelux, Ireland, Scandinavia and Spain. Our regional presence and high service levels across Europe are supported by 12 locally priced catalogues and web sites.  We have, in total, 40 web sites across Europe including our distributor network. We supply our customers through seven warehouses across the continent.

The European region grew revenue by around 6%. All eight of the operating companies grew during the year with the Benelux and Spanish businesses performing particularly well, growing at over 10%.

Much of the revenue improvement derived from continued development of Group and local customer driven initiatives. Examples of these include increased new product introductions, the development and roll out of a regional strategy for better support and service to larger customers, increased joint supplier initiatives and realigned sales structures in some of the larger operating companies.

North America

	2008	2007 (restated)
Revenue	£163.3m	£157.2m
Revenue growth	10.4%	21.8%
Contribution	£22.0m	£23.4m
% of revenue	13.5%	14.9%

Allied, the Group's North American business, continued to perform well, growing revenue at over 10% during the year whilst also moving to its new premises. This performance is all the more impressive since this is the fourth successive year that the business has grown revenue at double digit rates. Much of this performance has been driven by the business's extensive local presence: with 55 local sales offices across North America.

As a result of the sustained and strong sales growth the business was close to using all of its local warehouse capacity. The Group therefore approved the construction and move to significantly larger premises. This move was successfully managed through the year and involved the transfer of over 100,000 products in an eight week window whilst still shipping over 9,000 lines a day and maintaining 90+% service levels.

The business has developed a successful growth strategy which is based upon its local branch network and joint campaigns with key suppliers. In the period additional sales heads were added and the business had a successful supplier expo in November 2007 with over 100 vendors attending.

Gross margin has declined slightly due to changing product sales mix. The underlying contribution, adjusting for the impact of the weakening of the US Dollar (£1.3m) and the one-off warehouse and office move (£1.5m), increased by £1.4m (6%).

We are continuing to evaluate the roll out of EBS in Allied.

Asia Pacific

	2008	2007 (restated)
Revenue	£87.3m	£76.6m
Revenue growth	15.2%	17.3%
Contribution	£9.3m	£8.1m
% of revenue	10.6%	10.6%

The region's continuing strong growth confirms our confidence in the potential of this business.

The Group now has a strong presence in Asia Pacific, operating businesses in ten countries together with a network of distributors servicing customers in other markets across the region. 

The Group employs around 1,000 staff in Asia Pacific, with seven warehouses which stock in excess of 70,000 product lines with a next day offer to customers. Local language catalogues and web sites are available including Japan and China. The Chinese catalogue has a distribution in excess of 70,000. In China we employ around 400 staff with six sales offices across the country.

Within Asia Pacific, all regions have delivered revenue growth with the strongest performance being in China which has grown at over 35% as the strengthened management team have driven customer acquisition. In Japan, e-commerce now accounts for 64% of revenue. In South Asia, the business has been successful in targeting growing sectors while in Australia major accounts have significantly contributed to growth.

In April 2008, the business's web site offer was upgraded in line with the new offer enjoyed by customers in Europe and the UK from January 2008. 

During the year, additional overhead investments were made in key markets and regional infrastructure to accelerate future growth which led to the stable market contribution as a percentage of sales.

UK

	2008	2007 (restated)
Revenue	£358.0m	£356.2m
Revenue growth	0.9%	1.9%
Gross margin	53.1%	53.3%
Operating cost % of revenue	(24.9%)	(25.9%)
Contribution	£100.9m	£97.6m
% of revenue	28.2%	27.4%

This is the UK's second successive financial year of revenue and contribution growth.

The Business has continued implementing the Group strategy with its R&D Sales Division now fully operational and providing customer facing support. The Process Control and Automation product group has continued to grow strongly and the focus on selected target customer accounts has proved successful.

The Business's revenue growth together with effective cost management have both contributed to a significant improvement in operating cost leverage evidenced by the 1% point reduction in operating costs as a percentage of revenue for the year.

EBS

	2008	2007
EBS costs	£14.4m	£19.0m

The roll out of EBS in both Europe and Asia Pacific is now complete. By the year end, a single integrated regional system supported all our businesses across continental Europe and the UK and likewise across Asia Pacific.

The benefits to our European and Asia Pacific businesses of operating on their respective integrated platforms continue to be realised. This has shown itself in many areas, including more tailored customer discounting through to improved operating efficiencies in our businesses.

EBS costs have reduced by some £4.6m to £14.4m. This reduction in costs is due to significantly lower implementation costs as the roll out to operating companies within the two regions have come to an end.

For the year ending 31 March 2009 EBS costs will not be separately disclosed and the ongoing costs of depreciating the EBS assets, of around £13m, will be included within Process costs.

PROCESSES

	2008	2007
Process costs	£85.1m	£82.9m

The Processes support our operating companies by ensuring that they have the products, infrastructure and expertise to provide consistently high service levels around the World. The costs have reduced year on year as a percentage of revenue by 0.2% points.

Information Systems

Information Systems supports and develops the enterprise system applications that are required by the Group. It enables the businesses to deliver sales growth and cost reductions by better exploiting our powerful EBS platform. 

Supply Chain

The Supply Chain process is responsible for all the logistics surrounding product supply and the management of stock levels.

Its dual objectives have been to maintain high levels of customer service whilst exploiting the regional planning capabilities provided by EBS.

The benefits of this latter objective have become increasingly clear as the Supply Chain has exploited the new capabilities provided by EBS and improved stock turn from 2.7 to 2.9 times during the year.

Product Management

Product Management selects and purchases some 450,000 distinct products around the world.

During the year, Product Management increased the number of products in the electronics product portfolio and further rationalised the Maintenance range. Global sourcing activity increased with a growing proportion of products sourced via the Group's Asia sourcing operation.

Media Publishing

The Media Publishing Process designs and produces the Group's publications and associated content for e-commerce. During the year the team upgraded the Group's catalogue production systems providing efficiency gains, enabling the introduction of an enhanced continuous publishing capability and parametric search capability to the European websites.

CAPITAL STRUCTURE

At the year end, net debt of £151m comprised gross borrowings of £179m (currency split: £86m in US Dollars, £35m in Euros, £39m in Japanese Yen, £2m in Sterling and the balance of £17m in other currencies), and financial assets of £28m (currency split: £20m in Sterling, £5m in Euros and the balance of £3m in other currencies). This currency mix is to manage the hedging of translation exposure, interest differentials and tax efficiency. The peak net borrowing during the year was £188m. In addition, the pension deficit (net of associated deferred tax) was £23.9m at 31 March 2008.

The Group's main sources of debt are a syndicated facility for $120m and £110m from nine banks, a syndicated facility for £63.5m from three banks and a bilateral facility for £12.5m from one bank all maturing in February 2010. The bilateral facility was added during the year. Since the year end the Group has added a further bilateral facility of £25m.

TAXATION

The Group's effective tax rate is 33% of profit before tax which is 1% point lower than the rate in the prior year. This reduction is principally due to the lowering of local tax rates in some of the territories within which the Group operates and improved utilisation of overseas' tax losses as such entities become more profitable. The Group's current 33% tax rate includes the effect of a significant, and ongoing, increase in the deferred tax liability due to the tax amortisation of overseas goodwill. This deferred tax liability is not expected to crystallise in the foreseeable future. This, together with the differing timing of payments, results in the cash tax rate at 24% of profit before tax being significantly lower than the effective tax rate of 33%.

PENSION

The Group has defined benefit schemes in the UK, Ireland and Germany. All these schemes are now closed to new entrants. Elsewhere (including the replacement schemes in the UK and Ireland), the schemes are defined contribution.

Under IAS 19, the combined gross deficit of the defined benefit schemes was £30.0m at 31 March 2008.

The most recent valuation of the UK defined benefit scheme was carried out as at 31 March 2008. This disclosed a gross deficit of £21.8m. This deficit is £10.1m lower than at the previous year end. The principal reason for this improvement has been the recent higher discount rates.

To eliminate the deficit, based on the assumptions used in the valuation as at 31 March 2004, the Group has made additional annual payments to the scheme.

As part of the formal triennial valuation of the pension scheme at 31 March 2007, which has been agreed in principle with the Trustees of the scheme, the Group considered the prospective future cost and volatility of the UK defined benefit scheme structure. This has led to the Group concluding a consultation, on 3 April 2008, with the membership of the scheme over a number of proposed changes. These changes are designed to reduce the cost and volatility of maintaining the UK defined benefit scheme going forwards and are intended to apply from June 2008.

Ian Mason, Group Chief Executive

Simon Boddie, Group Finance Director

28 May 2008

 

 

Group Income Statement

For the year ended 31 March 2008

		2008	2007 (restated)
	Note	£m	£m
Revenue	2	924.8	877.5
Cost of sales		(460.1)	(434.0)
Gross profit		464.7	443.5
Distribution and marketing expenses		(354.6)	(344.2)
Administrative expenses		(7.4)	(6.2)
Operating profit		102.7	93.1
Financial income		9.5	11.2
Financial expenses		(16.8)	(17.1)
Profit before tax	1,2	95.4	87.2
Income tax expense	3	(31.5)	(29.6)
Profit for the year attributable to equity shareholders		63.9	57.6
Earnings per share - Basic	4	14.7p	13.2p
Earnings per share - Headline	4	14.8p	13.1p
Dividends
Amounts recognised in the period:
Final dividend for the year ended 31 March 2007		12.6p	12.6p
Interim dividend for the year ended 31 March 2008		5.8p	5.8p
		18.4p	18.4p
A final dividend of 12.6p per share relating to the period has been proposed since the period end.

Headline profit
Headline operating profit
Operating profit		102.7	93.1
Reorganisation costs (income)		1.0	(0.8)
		103.7	92.3
Headline profit before tax
Profit before tax		95.4	87.2
Reorganisation costs (income)		1.0	(0.8)
		96.4	86.4

 

Group Statement of Recognised Income and Expense
For the year ended 31 March 2008
			2008		2007 (restated)
			£m		£m
Foreign exchange translation differences			2.1		(11.3)
Actuarial gain (loss) on defined benefit pension schemes			5.2		(0.4)
(Loss) gain on cash flow hedges			(11.8)		1.0
Tax on items taken directly to equity			2.0		-
Net loss recognised directly in equity			(2.5)		(10.7)
Profit for the year			63.9		57.6
Total recognised income and expense for the period attributable to equity shareholders			61.4		46.9
Impact of voluntary change in accounting policy on retained earnings as at 1 April			(5.3)

  

Group Balance Sheet

As at 31 March 2008

		2008	2007 (restated)
	Note	£m	£m
Non-current assets
Intangible assets	7	188.6	196.7
Property, plant and equipment	8	114.9	111.1
Investments		0.4	0.3
Other receivables		2.9	2.7
Deferred tax assets		14.7	16.3
		321.5	327.1
Current assets
Inventories		161.1	160.6
Trade and other receivables		173.0	163.6
Income tax receivables		1.3	1.1
Cash and cash equivalents	10	28.4	19.1
		363.8	344.4
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables		(143.7)	(132.9)
Loans and borrowings	10	(7.1)	(79.0)
Tax liabilities		(17.5)	(14.5)
Net current assets		195.5	118.0
Total assets less current liabilities		517.0	445.1
Non-current liabilities
Other payables		(8.4)	(7.9)
Retirement benefit obligations	6	(30.0)	(38.7)
Loans and borrowings		(172.4)	(76.3)
Deferred tax liability		(24.4)	(22.9)
Net assets		281.8	299.3
Equity
Called-up share capital		43.5	43.5
Share premium account		38.7	38.7
Other reserves		199.6	217.1
Equity attributable to the shareholders of the parent	9	281.8	299.3

  

Group Cash Flow Statement

For the year ended 31 March 2008

		2008	2007 (restated)
		£m	£m
Cash flows from operating activities
Profit before tax		95.4	87.2
Depreciation and other amortisation		26.7	27.0
Equity settled transactions		1.1	2.7
Finance income and expense		7.3	5.9
Operating cash flow before changes in working capital, interest and taxes		130.5	122.8
Decrease (increase) in inventories		7.4	(5.8)
Decrease (increase) in trade and other receivables		0.5	(10.2)
Decrease in trade and other payables		(15.3)	(2.9)
Cash generated from operations		123.1	103.9
Interest received		9.5	11.2
Interest paid		(15.4)	(17.0)
Income tax paid		(22.8)	(22.0)
Operating cash flow		94.4	76.1
Cash flows from investing activities
Capital expenditure and financial investment		(19.4)	(42.4)
Proceeds from sale of non-current assets		-	11.6
Net cash used in investing activities		(19.4)	(30.8)
Free cash flow		75.0	45.3
Cash flows from financing activities
Proceeds from the issue of share capital		-	0.3
New bank loans		92.0	30.3
Repayment of bank loans		(77.1)	(16.6)
Equity dividends paid		(80.0)	(80.0)
Net cash used in financing activities		(65.1)	(66.0)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents		9.9	(20.7)
Cash and cash equivalents at the beginning of the year		17.2	38.0
Effect of exchange rates on cash		0.1	(0.1)
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of the year		27.2	17.2

  Notes to the Preliminary Statement

For the year ended 31 March 2008

1. Analysis of income and expenditure

	2008	2007 (restated)
	£m	£m
Revenue	924.8	877.5
Cost of sales	(460.1)	(434.0)
Distribution and marketing expenses	(261.5)	(249.3)
Contribution before Enterprise Business System costs	203.2	194.2
Distribution and marketing expenses within Process costs	(77.7)	(74.8)
Administrative expenses	(7.4)	(8.1)
Group Process costs	(85.1)	(82.9)
Distribution and marketing expenses: Enterprise Business System costs	(14.4)	(19.0)
Headline operating profit	103.7	92.3
Net financial expense	(7.3)	(5.9)
Headline profit before tax	96.4	86.4
Distribution and marketing expenses: reorganisation costs	(1.0)	(1.1)
Administrative expenses: reorganisation income	-	1.9
Profit before tax	95.4	87.2

2. Segmental analysis

		2008	2007
a. By geographical destination		£m	£m
Revenue:	United Kingdom	342.6	341.5
	Continental Europe	320.6	293.3
	North America	161.7	155.6
	Asia Pacific	99.9	87.1
		924.8	877.5

		2008	2007
b. By geographical origin		£m	£m
Revenue:	United Kingdom	358.0	356.2
	Continental Europe	316.2	287.5
	North America	163.3	157.2
	Asia Pacific	87.3	76.6
		924.8	877.5

		2008	2007 (restated)
		£m	£m
Profit before tax:	United Kingdom	100.9	97.6
	Continental Europe	71.0	65.1
	North America	22.0	23.4
	Asia Pacific	9.3	8.1
	Contribution before Enterprise Business System costs	203.2	194.2
	Group wide Process costs	(85.1)	(82.9)
	Enterprise Business System costs	(14.4)	(19.0)
	Net financial expense	(7.3)	(5.9)
	Headline profit before tax	96.4	86.4
	Reorganisation (costs) income	(1.0)	0.8
	Profit before tax	95.4	87.2

  

3. Income tax expense

	2008	2007 (restated)
	£m	£m
United Kingdom taxation	13.4	12.2
Overseas taxation	18.1	17.4
Total income tax expense in income statement	31.5	29.6
Profit before tax	95.4	87.2
Effective tax rate	33%	34%

4. Earnings per share

	2008	2007 (restated)
	£m	£m
Profit for the year attributable to equity shareholders	63.9	57.6
Reorganisation costs (income)	1.0	(0.8)
Tax impact of reorganisation	(0.3)	0.2
Headline profit for the year attributable to equity shareholders	64.6	57.0
Weighted average number of shares (million)	435.0	434.9
Earnings per share - basic	14.7p	13.2p
Earnings per share - headline	14.8p	13.1p

5. 2008 final dividend

The timetable for the payment of the proposed final dividend is:

Ex-dividend date	25 June 2008
Record date	27 June 2008
Annual General Meeting	18 July 2008
Dividend payment date	25 July 2008

6. Pension Schemes

The funding of the UK defined benefit scheme is assessed in accordance with the advice of independent actuaries. The pension costs for the year ended 31 March 2008 amounted to £3.5m (2007: £5.2m). The contributions paid by the Group to the defined contribution section of the scheme amounted to £4.0m (2007: £2.2m).

The principal assumptions used in the valuations of the liabilities of the Group's schemes were:

	2008 United Kingdom	Germany	Republic of Ireland	2007 United Kingdom	Germany	Republic of Ireland
Discount rate	5.90%	5.50%	5.50%	5.25%	4.75%	4.75%
Rate of increase in salaries	3.80%	3.00%	4.00%	3.85%	3.00%	4.00%
Rate of increase of pensions in payment	3.60%	2.50%	2.50%	3.10%	2.00%	2.00%
Inflation assumption	3.60%	2.50%	2.50%	3.10%	2.00%	2.00%

  

The expected long term rates of return on the schemes' assets as at 31 March were:

	2008 United Kingdom	Germany	Republic of Ireland	2007 United Kingdom	Germany	Republic of Ireland
Equities	7.60%	n/a	7.70%	7.40%	n/a	7.30%
Corporate bonds	5.40%	n/a	n/a	4.50%	n/a	n/a
Government bonds	4.10%	n/a	4.70%	3.90%	n/a	4.30%
Diversified growth funds	7.10%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Enhanced matching funds	4.25%	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
Cash	4.75%	n/a	n/a	4.50%	n/a	n/a
Other	n/a	n/a	5.70%	n/a	n/a	5.30%

Based upon the demographics of scheme members, the weighted average life expectancy assumptions used to determine benefit obligations were:

	2008 United Kingdom Years	Germany Years	Republic of Ireland Years
Member aged 65 (current life expectancy) - male	22.0	18.4	21.4
Member aged 65 (current life expectancy) - female	24.9	22.5	26.4
Member aged 45 (life expectancy at aged 65) - male	23.1	21.8	21.4
Member aged 45 (life expectancy at aged 65) - female	25.9	25.7	26.4

The amounts recognised in the income statement were:

	2008 UK  £m	Germany £m	Republic of Ireland £m	Total  £m	2007 UK  £m	Germany £m	Republic of Ireland £m	Total  £m
Current service cost	5.6	0.7	0.1	6.4	6.9	0.7	0.1	7.7
Past service cost	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
Interest cost	16.0	0.3	0.1	16.4	14.2	0.3	0.1	14.6
Expected return on assets	(18.1)	-	(0.1)	(18.2)	(15.9)	-	(0.1)	(16.0)
Total income statement charge	3.5	1.0	0.1	4.6	5.2	1.0	0.1	6.3

Of the charge for the year, £0.2m (2007: £0.3m) has been included in administrative expenses and the remainder £4.4m (2007: £6.0m) in distribution and marketing expenses.

The actual loss on scheme assets was: UK £0.5m (2007: return £14.4m), Germany £nil (2007: £nil), and Republic of Ireland £0.3m (2007: return £0.2m).

The valuations of the assets of the schemes as at 31 March were:

	2008 United Kingdom £m	Germany £m	Republic of Ireland £m	2007 United Kingdom £m	Germany £m	Republic of Ireland £m
Equities	113.2	n/a	1.6	203.7	n/a	1.6
Corporate bonds	14.6	n/a	-	24.0	n/a	-
Government bonds	18.9	n/a	0.3	41.6	n/a	0.2
Diversified growth funds	98.9	n/a	-	-	n/a
Enhanced matching funds	27.9	n/a	-	-	n/a
Cash	0.9	n/a	-	2.6	n/a	-
Other	-	n/a	0.3	-	n/a	0.2
Total market value of assets	274.4	-	2.2	271.9	n/a	2.0

No amount is included in the market value of assets relating to either financial instruments or property occupied by the Group.

  

The amount included in the balance sheet arising from the Group's obligations in respect of its defined benefit pension schemes is:

	2008 UK £m	Germany £m	Republic of Ireland £m	Total Valuation £m	2007 UK £m	Germany £m	Republic of Ireland £m	Total Valuation £m
Total market value of assets	274.4	-	2.2	276.6	271.9	-	2.0	273.9
Present value of scheme liabilities	(296.2)	(7.8)	(2.6)	(306.6)	(303.8)	(6.5)	(2.3)	(312.6)
Deficit in the scheme	(21.8)	(7.8)	(0.4)	(30.0)	(31.9)	(6.5)	(0.3)	(38.7)

The rules of the UK Electrocomponents Group Pension Scheme give the Trustee powers to wind up the Scheme, which it may exercise if the Trustee is aware that the assets of the scheme are insufficient to meet its liabilities. Although the Scheme is currently in deficit, the Trustee and the Company have agreed a plan to eliminate the deficit over time and the Trustee has confirmed that it has no current intention of exercising its power to wind up the Scheme. 

The Group expects to pay £5.1m to its UK defined benefit pension scheme in 2009 dependant upon the consultation referred to below.

As part of the formal triennial valuation of the pension scheme at 31 March 2007, which has been agreed in principle with the Trustees of the scheme, the Group considered the prospective future cost and volatility of the UK defined benefit scheme structure. This has led to the Group concluding a consultation, on 3 April 2008, with the membership of the scheme over a number of proposed changes. These changes are designed to reduce the cost and volatility of maintaining the UK defined benefit scheme going forwards and are intended to apply from June 2008.

In addition to the UK scheme outlined above there are certain pension benefits provided on a defined benefit basis in Germany and Ireland amounting to £1.1m (2007: £1.1m), defined contribution basis in Australia and North America amounting to £1.1m (2007: £0.9m), and via government schemes in France, Italy, Scandinavia and North Asia amounting to £2.6m (2007: £2.4m).

The German scheme is unfunded, in line with local practice, and the deficit of £7.8m in the German scheme is financed through accruals established within the German accounts.

In addition, the value of the assets held in respect of AVCs amounted to £0.9m as at 31 March 2008 (2007: £1.0m). The value of the assets held in respect of the defined contribution section of the UK scheme amounted to £6.3m as at 31 March 2008 (2007: £5.5m).

 

  

7. Intangible assets

			Other
	Goodwill	Software	Intangibles	Total
Cost	£m	£m	£m	£m
At 1 April 2007	133.6	101.9	0.3	235.8
External additions	-	6.2	-	6.2
Disposals	-	-	-	-
Translation differences	(1.9)	2.8	-	0.9
At 31 March 2008	131.7	110.9	0.3	242.9
Amortisation
At 1 April 2007		39.1	-	39.1
Charged in the year		13.5	-	13.5
Disposals		-	-	-
Translation differences		1.7	-	1.7
At 31 March 2008		54.3	-	54.3
Net book value
At 31 March 2008	131.7	56.6	0.3	188.6
At 31 March 2007	133.6	62.8	0.3	196.7

8. Property, plant and equipment

	Land and	Plant and	Computer
	buildings	machinery	Systems	Total
Cost	£m	£m	£m	£m
At 1 April 2007	95.8	107.4	61.4	264.6
Additions	1.3	6.4	5.2	12.9
Disposals	(0.5)	(3.9)	(1.8)	(6.2)
Translation differences	4.9	3.3	1.7	9.9
At 31 March 2008	101.5	113.2	66.5	281.2
Depreciation
At 1 April 2007	22.7	85.2	45.6	153.5
Charged in the year	1.8	4.9	6.5	13.2
Disposals	(0.5)	(3.5)	(1.5)	(5.5)
Translation differences	0.9	2.8	1.4	5.1
At 31 March 2008	24.9	89.4	52.0	166.3
Net book value
At 31 March 2008	76.6	23.8	14.5	114.9
At 31 March 2007	73.1	22.2	15.8	111.1

  9. Reconciliation of movements in equity

	2008	2007 (restated)
	£m	£m
Profit for the year	63.9	57.6
Dividend	(80.0)	(80.0)
	(16.1)	(22.4)
Foreign exchange translation differences	2.1	(11.3)
(Loss) gain on cash flow hedges	(11.8)	1.0
Actuarial gain (loss) on defined benefit pension schemes	5.2	(0.4)
Tax impact on adjustments taken directly to reserves	2.0	-
Equity settled transactions	1.1	2.7
New share capital subscribed	-	0.3
Net reduction to equity	(17.5)	(30.1)
Equity shareholders' funds at the beginning of the year as previously reported	304.6	336.4
Impact of voluntary change in accounting policy on retained earnings	(5.3)	(7.0)
Equity shareholders' funds at the beginning of the year as restated	299.3	329.4
Equity shareholders' funds at the end of the year	281.8	299.3

10. Cash and cash equivalents

	2008	2007
	£m	£m
Bank balances	5.9	16.1
Call deposits and investments	22.5	3.0
Cash and cash equivalents in the balance sheet	28.4	19.1
Bank overdrafts	(1.2)	(1.9)
Cash and cash equivalents in the statement of cash flows	27.2	17.2
Current instalments of loans	(5.9)	(77.1)
Loans repayable after more than one year	(172.4)	(76.3)
Net debt	(151.1)	(136.2)

11. Catalogue costs: voluntary accounting policy change

In its Annual Improvement Update issued in February 2008, the IASB proposed amendments to IAS38, Intangible assets. These would require an entity to recognise an expense in respect of advertising and promotional activities when it receives services or, in the case of a supply of goods, when it receives access to those goods. In addition, the Board proposed that catalogues are a form of advertising.

In light of these proposals, the Directors have decided to make a voluntary change to their current accounting policy to write off costs relating to the production and printing of catalogues to the income statement as they are incurred. In prior periods, the adopted policy was to recognise these costs as the catalogues were distributed to customers.

In applying the new policy retrospectively, the Directors have reclassified unused paper stocks to be used for printing catalogues as inventory and have recognised additional accruals in respect of certain catalogue costs that would have been prepaid under the previous accounting policy but are expensed as incurred under the new policy.

The impact of the change in accounting policy to distribution and marketing costs and profit before tax for the year ended 31 March 2008 is £nil (the 2007 impact is to reduce distribution and marketing costs and increase profit before tax by £2.0m), together with a £nil effect to the income tax expense (2007 impact is to increase the income tax charge by £0.6m). The change had no effect on basic earnings per share in 2008, 0.3p increase in basic earnings per share in 2007.

  

The change has also reduced the foreign exchange translation income through the Statement of Recognised Income and Expense by £0.5m for the year ended 31 March 2008 (2007 impact is to reduce the foreign exchange translation cost by £0.3m).The change reduced trade and other receivables as at 1 April 2006 by £8.4m, at 31 March 2007 by £7.4m and at 31 March 2008 by £8.5m. The current and net deferred tax liability decreased at 1 April 2006 by £2.8m, at 31 March 2007 by £2.1m and at 31 March 2008 by £2.3m. In addition, reclassifications increased inventories and accruals at 1 April 2006 by £1.9m and £3.3m respectively and increased inventories by £0.4m at 31 March 2008. 

In aggregate, the change reduced net assets at 1 April 2006 by £7.0m, 31 March 2007 by £5.3m and 31 March 2008 by £5.8m. The restatement has no affect on the Group's operating or free cash flow in either year.

12. Principal exchange rates

	2008		2007
	Average	Closing	Average	Closing
United States Dollar	2.01	1.99	1.90	1.96
Euro	1.41	1.25	1.47	1.47
Japanese Yen	229	198	221	232

13. Basis of preparation

Electrocomponents plc (the "Company") is a company domiciled in England. The Group accounts for the year ended 31 March 2008 comprise the Company and its subsidiaries (together referred to as the "Group") and the Group's interest in a jointly controlled entity. Subsidiaries are entities controlled by the Company. All subsidiary accounts are made up to 31 March and are included in the Group accounts. Further to the IAS Regulation (EC 1606/2002) the Group accounts have been prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") as adopted for use by the EU ("adopted IFRS").

The accounts were authorised for issue by the Directors on 28 May 2008.

The accounts are presented in £ Sterling and rounded to £0.1m. They are prepared on the historical cost basis.

The preparation of accounts in conformity with IFRS requires management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that affect the application of policies and reported amounts of assets and liabilities, income and expenses. The estimates and associated assumptions are based on historical experience and various other factors believed to be reasonable, under the circumstances, the results of which form the basis of making the judgements about carrying values and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources.  Actual results may differ from these estimates.

The financial information set out above does not constitute the Group's statutory accounts for the years ended 31 March 2008 or 2007 but is derived from those accounts.  Statutory accounts for 2007 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies, and those for 2008 will be delivered following the Company's Annual General Meeting. The auditors have reported on those accounts; their reports were unqualified and did not contain statements under section 237(2) or 237(3) of the Companies Act 1985.

Copies of the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2008 will be available from 19 June 2008 from the Company Secretary, Electrocomponents plc, International Management Centre, 8050 Oxford Business Park North, Oxford OX4 2HW, United Kingdom. Telephone +44 (0)1865 204000. The Report will also be published on the Corporate website at www.electrocomponents.com.

The Annual General Meeting will be held at Electrocomponents plc, International Management Centre, 8050 Oxford Business Park North, Oxford OX4 2HW, United Kingdom on Friday 18 July 2008 at 12.00.

  Safe Harbour: 

This preliminary statement contains certain statements, statistics and projections that are or may be forward-looking. The accuracy and completeness of all such statements including, without limitation, statements regarding the future financial position, strategy, projected costs, plans and objectives for the management of future operations of Electrocomponents plc and its subsidiaries is not warranted or guaranteed. These statements typically contain words such as "intends", "expects", "anticipates", "estimates" and words of similar import. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. Although Electrocomponents plc believes that the expectations reflected in such statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to be correct. There are a number of factors, which may be beyond the control of Electrocomponents plc, which could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Other than as required by applicable law or the applicable rules of any exchange on which our securities may be listed, Electrocomponents plc has no intention or obligation to update forward-looking statements contained herein.

ENDFR ARMRTMMBTBTP