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12 Sep 2008 07:00
AGM STATEMENT
At the Latchways plc Annual General Meeting to be held today, Chairman Paul Hearson will report:
"As I reported in our Interim Management Statement of 24 July, our business remains in robust health with order intake for the first five months at record levels. Our installer-based business, which accounts for the majority of the Group's activity, continues to generate revenue growth despite the worsening economic climate. Both UK and European installer order intake are ahead of last year.
After an exceptional summer last year, our vertical business has been quieter due to the timing of customers' maintenance spend. Planned maintenance programmes later in the year are expected to improve revenues in the second half. We are working with a number of potential new customers in both the transmission and power generation markets to provide further growth in this and future years.
We have recently won a significant order for the Royal Air Force for Wingrip systems to be delivered by the end of this year. The Wingrip system is becoming widely accepted for military applications and we are progressing a number of other opportunities.
The integration of Sigma 6, the Slovenian guardrail manufacturer, into the group has been completed and initial sales volumes have been encouraging, with a good second half in prospect. The Self Retracting Lifeline product range, after an initial marketing investment, is beginning to develop momentum.
We are continuing to invest in additional resources to drive revenue growth. Whilst this investment will naturally take time to produce returns, we believe it is essential to ensure that we maintain our position at the forefront of our industry.
The board remains confident of full year performance in line with market expectations.
I look forward to providing a further update with the interim results on November 6th."
Enquiries:
Latchways plc Threadneedle Communications
David Hearson, Chief Executive Graham Herring / Josh Royston
Rex Orton, Financial Director Tel: 020 7653 9850
Tel: 01380 732700
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