James Fisher and Sons Regulatory News (FSJ)

10 Nov 2008 07:00



Monday 10 November 2008

James Fisher and Sons plc

Interim Management Statement

James Fisher and Sons plc has traded in line with management's expectations in the period from 1 July to date, with a trading pattern similar to the first half.

Trading in the Offshore Oil service businesses was encouraging and we continue to win new contracts around the world, as well as in the North Sea.

The Specialist Technical division has again achieved strong organic growth with both the FenderCare and Strainstall clusters performing particularly well.

Good progress has been made by the Defence division on the South Korean submarine rescue contract and the vessel is now in transit to Korea for commissioning before the year-end. The Singaporean submarine rescue system is also on schedule, including the provision of twenty-year finance to refund the building costs of over £10 million. This sum will be paid on delivery in the first half of 2009.

Whilst demand has remained steady, the operational issues we flagged at the Half Year have continued to impact the Marine Oil result.

The recent global financial market issues have had little effect on the trading of the Company to date. Regarding exchange rates, the stronger US dollar is overall having a modestly positive effect with the Specialist Technical division benefiting from its dollar revenues, while Marine Oil revenue is being impacted due to its dollar charters.

The Company's pension deficits will inevitably be affected by lower equity values, but so far these have been largely offset by the effect of the higher 'AA' rated corporate bonds which are used to calculate future pension liabilities.

To aid in our expansion of the business, we have recently finalised a new unsecured £25 million revolving credit facility with Barclays Bank and continue to enjoy strong relationships with our bankers, with plenty of cover on our banking covenants.

Outlook

The Company continues to trade in line with management's expectations with its service businesses well positioned, with improved order books and with strong growth records in industry sectors which are among the most recession resistant.

Our Offshore Oil activities are broadly based in production, construction and maintenance as well as exploration. The Specialist Technical and Defence clusters provide niche services which our customers need irrespective of the economic climate and to date we have experienced no lack of demand for our Marine Oil services.

Overall and despite the present economic climate your Company is well positioned to continue to produce good growth and value to our shareholders.

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