Macfarlane Grp. Regulatory News (MACF)

15 May 2007 12:00

Macfarlane Group PLC15 May 2007 Annual General Meeting statement 15 May 2007 At today's Annual General Meeting of Macfarlane Group PLC the Chairman, ArchieHunter, made the following statement. "The Board believes that the Group has gained from the experiences of 2006 andits response to them. The markets in which we operate continue to demonstratesimilar characteristics to those experienced in 2006, however the Group is nowprepared and resourced to address these challenges. The Board is confident thatthe key businesses on which we will concentrate in 2007 have been strengthened.Further carefully targeted and manageable acquisitions will be pursued. A major element of the investment programme undertaken in 2006 related tobuilding the management team in terms of both numbers and competency. Theefforts to develop this team continue in 2007 and the fruits are becomingevident. With regard to current trading, organic turnover in our PackagingDistribution business is 10% ahead of last year and, critically, the recovery inmargins continues; the new business development teams are recording meaningfulwins and our E-commerce offering Packaging2U, continues to grow at encouraginglevels. The net effect is a significantly improved return in our PackagingDistribution business to date compared with 2006. In Manufacturing we have committed to capital investments totalling £0.9m forthe second half of 2007 in Labels and UK Packaging Manufacture. Theseinvestments will provide additional capacity and improved efficiencies as wellas incorporating enhanced safety features. Our Labels and UK PackagingManufacturing businesses are performing satisfactorily in the early part of2007. Our US/Mexico businesses are having to contend with slower markets in 2007with a disappointing impact on trading. We are working to realign the cost basewith the lower levels of demand and attention to these businesses is a currentpriority for management. The most significant feature of trading to date in 2007 is the improvement inour key businesses." Further information: Archie S. Hunter Chairman 0141 333 9666 Peter D. Atkinson Chief Executive 0141 333 9666 John Love Finance Director 0141 333 9666 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange