25 Jun 2019 07:00
25 June 2019
Low & Bonar PLC
Notification of interim results date and update on trading
Low & Bonar PLC (the "Group"), the international performance materials group, confirms that it will announce results for the six months ended 31 May 2019 (the "period") on 30 July 2019.
The Group expects to report results for the period in line with the Board's expectations, as updated on 20 May 2019. Further to previous announcements, Group sales in the period were approximately 8% lower than the prior year. The Group expects to report a small underlying profit before tax for the period.
Net debt at 31 May 2019 was approximately £99m, representing an expected net debt to EBITDA ratio of c2.9x and within the banking covenant of 3.5x, as expected. Interest cover for the twelve months to 31 May 2019 is expected to be c3.3x, and ahead of the banking covenant of 3.0x. Average net debt for the period was £135m. On a pro forma basis, assuming the equity raise that took place in Q1 of this year had occurred on 1 December 2018, the average net debt for the half was £114m.
The disposal process in respect of the Civil Engineering Division continues to be progressed. The recently announced sale of the Construction Fibres business is expected to close in early July, and the sale process for the Needle-Punched Non-Wovens business is still expected to conclude during the current financial year.
For further information, please contact:
Low & Bonar PLC | ||
Daniel Dayan | Chairman | 020 7535 3180 |
Ian Ashton | Group CFO | |
Instinctif Partners | 020 7457 2020 | |
Matthew Smallwood | ||
Rosie Driscoll |
Notes:
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation ("MAR") EU no.596/2014. Upon the publication of this announcement via Regulatory Information Service ("RIS"), this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.