Hornby Regulatory News (HRN)

26 Jul 2007 07:00

Hornby PLC26 July 2007 AGM TRADING UPDATE AND INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT Speaking today at the Annual General Meeting of Hornby Plc, the internationalmodels and collectibles Group, the Chairman Neil Johnson, will provide thefollowing trading update and first interim management statement. " I am delighted to report to shareholders that we have made a solid start tothe new financial year. Our UK and international subsidiaries are making goodprogress. Sales via our network of concessions and to our retail customers havebeen strong. Looking forward as we approach the run up to Christmas, our orderintake across the Group has been growing significantly compared to prior year,on a like for like basis. Additionally, order intake for the Airfix and Humbrolbrands, acquired in November 2006, has been very encouraging. " Our recent strategy has been to diversify and strengthen the Group's revenuestreams. We have completed a number of acquisitions of established hobby brandsthat have extended our subsidiaries into new international markets. After aperiod of investment to re-organise and re-launch our European operations, weare particularly pleased that our international businesses are now starting tomake a significant contribution to the overall Group performance. " Our model railway operations are performing well across all territories inwhich we operate. The impact of our new Digital Control System remains thedriver of growth in the UK market, as consumers switch to the new system. In themain European markets, the re-launch of our brands has been achievedsuccessfully. Later this year, we will commence deliveries of the first newproducts, developed specifically for Germany, Italy and France. These are thelargest continental European markets for model railway products. We areconfident that when the markets review these flagship products, consumers willrecognise the significant improvements that we are able to deliver by combiningEuropean product development and engineering skills, with high qualitymanufacturing ability in China. " In our slot car racing business, we have secured the licence with the McLarenFormula 1 team to use the images of both Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton on arange of sets and cars. Given the worldwide popularity of both drivers we expectthese product lines to become best sellers. " We have also secured the worldwide license for a range of slot car racingproducts based on the new Transformers movie. We have launched the TransformersSlot car racing set in the UK, USA and European markets. Early market reactionto this particular license has been excellent. " The acquisition of the Airfix and Humbrol brands has been completed and thebusiness has bedded down well. The retail community has been extremelysupportive of our efforts to re-launch the product lines. Consequently, neworder levels from all channels of distribution have been excellent. We haveworked hard to re-invigorate the pipeline of new products and we are delightedto have negotiated a licence with BBC Worldwide for a range of Airfix modelsbased on the Dr. Who series. The first product, which will be launched in timefor Christmas 2007, will feature the Tardis, together with figurines of theDoctor and his assistant. " In conclusion, all of our subsidiaries continue to offer significant potentialfor growth. Forward orders are much stronger than the equivalent position lastyear. With a strong pipeline of new product launches, we are very well placed tocontinue to drive both sales and profit growth." -ends- Date: 26 July 2007 For further information contact: Hornby Plc cityPROFILEFrank Martin, Chief Executive Simon CourtenayJohn Stansfield, Finance Director William Attwell01843-233500 020-7448-3244Web: www.hornby.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange