Fih Group Regulatory News (FIH)

11 Sep 2007 14:57

Falkland Islands Holdings PLC11 September 2007 Falkland Islands Holdings plc("FIH", "the Company" or "the Group") AGM Statement and Trading update The following comments were made by Falkland Islands Holdings Chairman, DavidHudd, at the Company's Annual General Meeting, held at 2.30pm today: "Since we announced our results on 13 June 2007, the Group's trading outlook hasremained positive. The Group's operations in the Falklands Islands have had an encouraging start tothe current financial year with fishing support services boosted by the bestIllex squid catch since 2000. In addition the commemoration of the 25thanniversary of the Falklands conflict, which reached its peak in June, resultedin an increased number of visitors in this normally quiet winter period andhelped boost consumer spending. Since then commercial activity in the Islands has returned to normal levels.Insurance broking and property rentals are continuing to make good progress andwe will be adding a further four rental units to the Company's portfolio of 25investment properties in the coming year. To strengthen the competitiveness of retail operations, the Group has madesignificant changes to its non food operations. The complete refurbishment andre-launch of the DIY business is underway creating two separate brands. "HomeBuilder", which sells heavy building materials and tools targeted at theprofessional builder and "Home Living" selling soft furnishings and householdgoods together with a kitchen and bathroom design service, focussed on thedomestic customer. The clothing store the "Gallery" has also been re-branded andnow offers a simpler range of less fashion oriented clothing; offering choiceand excellent value under the "Basics" brand. Local competition still remainsstrong and further investment in the retail businesses is planned to ensure theCompany maintains its market leading position. In the five months to 31 August2007 retail sales were 0.7 % ahead of the same period in 2006 . The Portsmouth Harbour Ferry Company has continued to perform well during thebusier summer months and despite poor weather this year passenger numbers haveheld up well in comparison with 2006. For the five months to 31 August passengernumbers were 1.0% ahead of the same period last year. A general fare increase of5% was implemented on June 1 2007. Discussions are in progress with GosportCouncil regarding the introduction of a new pontoon and landing stage in latesummer 2008. Minimal disruption to passenger services is anticipated. Inaddition work has started this month to refurbish and modernise the Company'sown pontoon on the Portsmouth side of the harbour. The exploration activities of Falkland Oil and Gas ("FOGL") in which the Groupholds 15 million shares representing a 16.3% stake, have continued to makeprogress. In July 2007 FOGL completed its 2D seismic programme and processing of the dataset is well underway. In late August FOGL's CSEM seabed logging programme wascompleted and the processing of these results will take place in the finalquarter of 2007. In late July FOGL issued a statement confirming it was in "advanced discussions" with a potential farm-in partner and we await with keeninterest further news of these developments. Your Company's cash resources remain strong and profitability in the currentyear is progressing in line with our expectations. Your Board is pleased to note the recent increase in the Company's share priceand will seek to further underpin that value by seeking out selectiveacquisition opportunities of profitable businesses in the coming year." All resolutions put to the meeting this afternoon were approved by shareholders. David Hudd 11 September 2007 Enquiries: Falkland Islands HoldingsDavid Hudd, Chairman Tel: 07771 893 267John Foster Managing Director Tel: 07710 764556 College Hill Tel: 020 7457 2020Nick Elwes www.fihplc.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange