LTC.L Regulatory News (LTC)

15 August 2013

Latchways plc

Interim Management Statement

In accordance with the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency rules, Latchways plc presents its interim management statement in respect of the period 1 April 2013 to 14 August 2013 inclusive.

During the period, we have made good progress with the Self Retracting Lifeline (SRL) and Personal Rescue Device (PRD) product lines. The wind energy market has provided further SRL business in recent months, and we have secured initial business for the PRD in the powered access market. Both of these product lines are expected to deliver strong growth for the year, particularly in the second half as North American order delivery gathers pace.

Our traditional markets continue to face challenging economic conditions. Nevertheless, we have made notable progress in developing new customers and geographies. We are making further investments in our sales team in order to take advantage of such opportunities.

Our Vertical product range, which performed well last year, is having a quiet first half due to the timing of system rollouts with key utility customers. We are focused on identifying and winning new utility customers in order to reduce the reliance on individual customers for this product line.

Whilst these effects point towards a stronger second half to the year, we still expect to report growth for the first half. Our balance sheet and cash generation remain strong. Looking forward, despite the prevailing economic weakness in our core markets, we are well set to continue to deliver profitable growth.

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