ECM.L Regulatory News (ECM)

Electrocomponents plc today issues a trading update for the year ended 31 March 2018, ahead of publishing full-year results on 24 May 2018.

As a consequence of continued strong revenue growth and better than expected performance in gross margin, we expect our results for the year ended 31 March 2018 to be ahead of our previous expectations, with adjusted(2) profit before tax slightly ahead of the top end of the market consensus range(3).

· Q4 like-for-like revenue growth remained strong at 10% leading to 13% revenue growth for the full year.

o All five regions continued to see strong like-for-like revenue growth in Q4 despite toughening comparatives during the quarter.

o Digital saw like-for-like revenue growth of 10% during the quarter leading to full- year growth of 13%.

o RS Pro, our own-brand business, saw like-for-like revenue growth of 12% during the quarter leading to full-year growth of 11%.

· Strong growth at RS Pro and our continued focus on pricing and discount discipline means we now expect to see a modest year-on-year improvement in gross margin in the full year.

· We have completed the first phase of the Performance Improvement Plan and delivered cumulative annualised savings of £30 million. We are currently examining new initiatives to further simplify the way we do business and generate efficiency and we will share more detail on these at our final results in May.

· We remain focused on driving cash flow and have seen strong year-on-year growth in H2 free cash flow.

Enquiries:

Notes:

1. Like-for-like change excludes the effects of changes in exchange rates on translation of overseas operating results, with 2017 converted at 2018 average exchange rates for the period. Revenue is also adjusted to eliminate the impact of trading days year on year.

2. Adjusted excludes reorganisation costs, asset write-downs, one-off pension credits or costs, significant tax rate changes and associated income tax.

3. The market consensus range for adjusted PBT for the year ended 31 March 2018 is £161.8 million to £171.0 million. This range only includes estimates from analysts that have updated forecasts since our latest trading update on 5 February 2018.

4. Our profit remains sensitive to movements in exchange rates on translation of overseas profit. Average exchange rates for the year ended 31 March 2018 for Euro and US$ respectively are €1.13 and $1.33. Every 1 cent movement in the Euro has a circa £1.3 million impact on profit. Every 1 cent movement in US $ has a circa £0.4 million impact on profit.

5. During the year ended 31 March 2018 we have seen a £24 million adverse impact on revenue from fewer trading days compared with the year ended 31 March 2017. In the year ended 31 March 2019 we expect to see a positive impact of around £9 million on revenue from additional trading days compared with the year ended 31 March 2018.