Hardide Regulatory News (HDD)

19 Feb 2007 07:01

Hardide PLC19 February 2007 Press Release 19 February 2007 Hardide plc ("Hardide" or the "Company") Hardide wins Expro as first new customer for US manufacturing facility Hardide Coatings (AIM:HDD), the provider of unique surface engineeringtechnology, is pleased to announce that it has secured orders from the ExproGroup ("Expro") as its first new customer for its recently opened coatingsfacility in Houston, Texas. The order is the result of over 18 months of close co-operation between thecompanies to engineer and test a solution to increase the wear resistance ofdownhole tractor tool grippers. Hardide has made several prototypes for Exprothat have been run in harsh environments, proving to extend the life time ofcomponents. Hardide completed a purpose-built 17,000 sq. ft. coatings facility in Houston inSeptember 2006. The plant houses the first of a number of state-of-the-art CVD(chemical vapour deposition) vacuum furnaces together with pre-treatment,inspection, QA and finishing support equipment. Jim Murray-Smith, chief executive officer of Hardide plc said: "The response toour presence in Houston has been highly satisfactory and we have parts in testfrom over 30 of the region's major suppliers to the oil and gas industry.Winning this first order from Expro further validates the Company's expansioninto Houston and we are confident of being able to announce additional contractsin the near future as they come on-line." Francis Neill of The Expro Group said: "Our company is at the forefront of newtechnology and innovation and we are, therefore, pleased to do business with acompany like Hardide, which has proved to offer our components optimizedperformance and extended life. We are particularly pleased to be their firstnew customer as they establish their business in Houston." Ends For further information:Hardide plcJim Murray Smith, Chief Executive Tel: +44 (0) 1869 353 830jmurray-smith@hardide.com www.hardide.com Daniel Stewart & Company plcPaul Shackleton, Chloe Ponsonby Tel: +44 (0) 207 776 6550 www.danielstewart.co.uk Media enquiries:AbchurchChris Lane / Laura Riascos de Castro Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7700chris.lane@abchurch-group.com www.abchurch-group.com Note to Editors: The Hardide Technology UK-based Hardide Coatings has developed a unique tungsten carbide based coatingwhich offers an unprecedented combination of ultra-hardness, toughness, lowfriction and chemical resistance when applied to components made from steel,alloy and other materials. Together with features such as its ability to coatinternal surfaces, Hardide is proven to outperform competing technologies acrossmany measures. The patented coating is widely used around the world inaggressive wear or chemical environments primarily in the oil and gas, valve,pump and aerospace industries. The Expro Group Expro International Group PLC is the leading upstream oil and gas technology andservice provider, specialising in flow management, well performance andproduction optimisation. The Expro Group employs over 4,000 people worldwideand is an innovative leader in oilfield technology which enables clients tomaximise recovery of their reserves. For more information, please refer to theGroup's website at www.exprogroup.com. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange