Intertek Group Regulatory News (ITRK)

29 Jun 2006 07:01

Intertek Group PLC29 June 2006 Intertek Group plc ("Intertek") 29 June 2006 at 7.00am Pre-close Trading Statement Intertek Group plc ("Intertek"), the leading international provider of qualityand safety services to a wide range of industries, announces the followingtrading statement prior to entering its close period for the six months ending30 June 2006. The group continues to perform well. Total reported revenue growth, includingacquisitions, is expected to be strong for the half year ended 30 June 2006,compared to the same period last year despite the expected reduction ofapproximately £10m in revenue in the first half from the two terminatedgovernment contracts within the Government Services division. Organic revenueand operating profit growth for the three main divisions at constant exchangerates is expected to be good. Asia, and especially China, continues to be the main driver of growth withinConsumer Goods and the Commercial & Electrical divisions. These two divisionsare showing good growth across all activities with the exception of thepreviously indicated slower growth in textiles testing resulting from a reducedrate of growth in textile exports to the West from China. The Commercial &Electrical division is additionally seeing good growth from North Americadespite a slow down in automotive services. Growth in Oil, Chemical & Agri, has been strong, supported by favourableunderlying markets as well as new environmental regulations on fuels and theincreased upstream and downstream penetration of our services within the oilindustry. The analytical services business continues to exploit its marketleading position in winning laboratory contracts from major oil and chemicalcompanies. The revenue performance of the remaining Government Services contracts, post thetermination of the pre-shipment inspection contracts with the Governments ofNigeria and Venezuela, has been encouraging. Overall the group has made good progress in the first half of the year and it isexpected that similar positive progress will continue into the second half. The interim results for the period ended 30 June 2006, will be announced onMonday 4 September 2006 and the close period commences on 6 July 2006. For further information, please contact Aston Swift, Investor Relations Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7396 3400 aston.swift@intertek.com Richard Mountain, Financial Dynamics Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7831 3113 richard.mountain@fd.com Corporate website: www.intertek.com High resolution images of Intertek Group plc businesses are available todownload, free of charge from www.vismedia.co.uk. ABOUT INTERTEKIntertek is a leading international provider of quality and safety services to awide range of global and local industries. Partnership with Intertek bringsincreased value to customers' products, processes and ultimately supports theirsuccess in the global market place. Intertek has the experience, expertise,resources and global reach to support their customers through their network ofover 850 laboratories and offices, 16,000 people in more than 100 countriesaround the world. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange