Engage Xr Regulatory News (EXR)

26 Mar 2007 07:01

Expro International Group PLC26 March 2007 Embargoed until 07.00 26 March 2007 Expro International Group PLC Pre-close Trading Update Expro International Group PLC ("Expro") announces today that trading during thesecond half of the year ended 31st March 2007 has continued in line withexpectations, despite the headwind of a progressively weakening US Dollar. Global market conditions remain strong and have provided a solid foundation forExpro to successfully integrate the Power Well Services ("PWS") acquisitioncompleted in July 2006 with minimal disruption. The assimilation of the PWSbusiness into Expro progressed ahead of plan and the integration of the twocompanies is now largely completed. The creation of the new geographic structure integrating PWS has been an area ofmanagement focus throughout the second half of our financial year. This exercisehas been highly successful and the regional businesses are now balanced into ournew Eastern and Western Hemisphere operating structures, and fully focused onboth growing regional opportunities and providing enhanced delivery for theGroup's Global business streams. Expro now enjoys an increased presence with National Oil Companies in Brazil,Saudi Arabia and Norway, which all provide cross selling opportunities. Theaddition of the Powerchokes business, which like all of the acquired PWSbusinesses has performed in line with expectation, has also increased ourexposure to the unconventional North American land market. Throughout the financial year, significant progress has been made in all areasof Expro's business. The development of new technology remains essential to ourpositioning and we have invested record amounts to develop and deliver the nextgeneration of Expro products. Our flagship AX-S rigless intervention conceptcontinues to take shape. Good progress has been made towards completion of thedetailed engineering phase preceding commercial discussions with our customers.The market for subsea well intervention is developing very quickly. Our majorinternational customers are looking for technically innovative, cost effectivesolutions to increase the recovery factors from their expensive subsea assets.Expro remains on track to meet their future needs through investment made withinthe period. Graeme Coutts, Group CEO said: "I am delighted with the smooth integration ofPWS which has delivered everything that we had hoped for. The enlarged group isnow positioned to grow and attract new business from both International andNational Oil Companies. We have a technology portfolio well-suited to allmarkets and an outstanding talent pool of national staff in key markets toprogress our strategies. In the flagship subsea markets operating costs remainvery high. As a result, our customers are focused on innovation and servicequality, core strengths of Expro which lie at the heart of its focused strategy.The integration of PWS has given Expro a new platform to progress our strategiesand we remain confident in our positive outlook for the coming period andbeyond." - Ends - For further information, please contact: Expro International Group PLC 0118 959 1341Graeme Coutts, Chief ExecutiveMichael Speakman, Finance DirectorEd Cutts, Investor Relations Weber Shandwick Financial 020 7067 0700Kirsty Raper / Rachel Taylor / Stephanie Badjonat This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange