Intertek Group Regulatory News (ITRK)

9 May 2008 07:00

Intertek Group PLC09 May 2008 9 May 2008, 7:00am (UK) Intertek Group plc Interim Management Statement Intertek Group plc ("Intertek"), a leading international provider of quality andsafety services to a wide range of industries, today releases its first InterimManagement Statement. The Annual General Meeting of Intertek will be held todayat 11.00am at The Westbury Hotel, Conduit Street, London, W1S 2YF. The half yearresults to 30 June 2008, will be announced on Monday 4 August 2008. Overview Intertek has made a strong start to the financial year with trading in line withmanagement expectations. Consumer Goods continues to perform very well with strong revenue growth. Toysand hardlines testing in South China and Hong Kong are driving this growth dueto increased demand for quality and safety services from retailers andmanufacturers who have heightened concerns about product recalls and theconsequential direct costs and reputation damage to their businesses. Textilestesting is continuing to grow well driven by increasing product variety andquality requirements. Inspection, which accounts for approximately 10% of thedivision, is growing less strongly, in line with slowing global trade flows.Despite the continuing mix effect on the margin due to higher growth in lowermargin businesses, the overall margin is stable and in line with ourexpectations. Commercial & Electrical is performing very well with organic growth and margingrowth being supplemented by acquisitions. Market share gains in certificationare being made in both the US and European markets with some significant neworders. To date, other than continued slow growth in automotive componentstesting in the US, there is no indication that the weak US economy is having anyimpact on testing or certification demand. Oil, Chemical & Agri is performing well overall with a stable margin. Revenueand profit growth in the Oil, Chemical & Agri sector of this division has grownstrongly, mainly due to high demand for petroleum cargo inspection in theAmericas and Asia. Likewise underlying revenue growth in the Minerals sector hasbeen strong, but the operating profit has not grown as fast due to investmentand start up costs in China and on new major contracts in Australia. InAnalytical Services, most service lines have reported strong performance, butnot enough overall to compensate for delays in a few large orders inpharmaceutical and downstream activities. It is expected that theseunderperforming laboratories will be on track by year end. Government Services, as expected following the termination of the Ecuadorcontract at the end of February 2008, is showing flat revenue growth butmaintaining profit margins. Wolfhart Hauser, Chief Executive Officer of Intertek, said: "We have made a strong start to the financial year with trading in line with ourexpectations. We have continued our strategy of making bolt-on acquisitions andto date have completed eight, for an initial cash consideration of £35m plus upto £12m deferred. The divisional reorganisation, from four to seven divisions tobetter capture the rapid growth opportunities in our key industry sectors, isprogressing well. "To date, market conditions remain supportive in our key industry sectors. Wewill continue to capture additional market opportunities based on our focusedstrategy of offering added-value services and supporting customers in theirglobal trade. We expect that 2008 will be another good year for Intertek." -ends- Contacts Aston Swift / Sarah Ogilvie Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7396 3400 aston.swift@intertek.com / sarah.ogilvie@intertek.com Richard Mountain / Sophie Kernon, Financial Dynamics Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7831 3113 richard.mountain@fd.com / sophie.kernon@fd.com Notes to Editors ABOUT INTERTEK Intertek (LSE: ITRK) is a leading provider of quality and safety solutionsserving a wide range of industries around the world. From auditing andinspection, to testing, quality assurance and certification, Intertek people arededicated to adding value to customers' products and processes, supporting theirsuccess in the global marketplace. Intertek has the expertise, resources andglobal reach to support its customers through its network of more than 1,000laboratories and offices and over 21,000 people in 110 countries around theworld. www.intertek.com This Interim Management Statement is prepared for and addressed only to theCompany's shareholders as a whole and to no other person. The Company, itsdirectors, employees, agents or advisers do not accept or assume responsibilityto any other person to whom this Interim Management Statement is shown or intowhose hands it may come and any such responsibility or liability is expresslydisclaimed. Statements contained in this Interim Management Statement are basedon the knowledge and information available to the Company's Directors at thedate it was prepared and therefore the facts stated and views expressed maychange after that date. By their nature, the statements concerning the risks anduncertainties facing the Company in this Interim Management Statement involveuncertainty since future events and circumstances can cause results anddevelopments to differ materially from those anticipated. To the extent thatthis Interim Management Statement contains any statement dealing with any timeafter the date of its preparation such statement is merely predictive andspeculative as it relates to events and circumstances which are yet to occur.The Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange