ECM.L Regulatory News (ECM)

ELECTROCOMPONENTS PLC

Trading Statement

Electrocomponents plc, the global distributor for engineers, has today issued its trading statement for the period from 1 October 2014 to 31 January 2015.

For the four months to 31 January 2015 Group underlying sales growth (1) was 5%.

International sales grew by 8% and UK sales declined by 2% (UK ex- Raspberry Pi (2) declined by 2%). Within International, Continental Europe grew by 6%, North America grew by 13% and Asia Pacific grew by 3%.

The Group has continued the planned investment in its global strategy and there has been further progress in the period. eCommerce sales continue to grow faster than the Group as a whole with sales growth of 6% resulting in Group eCommerce sales share of 59% during the period. Sales of our Famous For product categories, comprising our electronics and automation and control ranges, also grew by 6%, benefitting from high levels of new product introduction.

Year to date Group gross margin was around 1.3% points below the prior year. The weaker gross margin in the last four months was due to the expected transactional impact of foreign exchange and mix impacts due to the faster growth of our lower margin products and regions. We have taken action to improve gross margins and in January we have seen a sequential improvement in the gross margin whilst maintaining sales momentum. Operating costs have continued to be tightly controlled during the period.

The Group has a strong balance sheet and there have been no significant changes to the Group's financial position during the period.

Ian Mason, Group Chief Executive, commented:

"Group sales growth during the four-month period was around 5%, compared to 3% in the first half. This increase in growth was driven by International, which saw an acceleration in growth from 5% to 8%. Growth in North America has accelerated and the actions taken during the year to improve performance in Europe are now bearing fruit with France, our largest European market, back to growth in the period. The UK market remains tough and we continue to drive forward with our plan to improve performance.

Our global strategy is firmly established and we have the right organisation in place to deliver it. We are implementing our strategic initiatives which has resulted in faster sales growth from eCommerce and our Famous For product categories. We are confident that our strategy will enable us to progressively grow our market share and improve our financial performance over the medium term."

Notes:

1) There was 1 less trading day in the period as compared to the prior-year period. Full-year Group headline profit before tax is expected to be impacted by around £2m due to the impact of fewer trading days (H1 2015 impact: £1m).

2) Reported 2014 full year headline profit before tax of £101m would be £6m lower if translated at foreign exchange rates at the end of Jan 2015 (H1 saw an adverse impact of c. £3m from translational impacts.)

3) Sales growth rates, unless otherwise stated, are adjusted for trading days and currency movements ("underlying sales growth/decline").