Michelmersh Brick Holdings Regulatory News (MBH)

3 May 2007 07:01

Michelmersh Brick Holdings PLC03 May 2007 03 May 2007 Michelmersh Brick Holdings plc AGM Statement Michelmersh Brick Holdings plc ("Michelmersh" or "the Group") (AIM: MBH) theUK's largest producer of handmade specification bricks and clay paviors,announces that at its Annual General Meeting to be held later today, Thursday, 3May 2007, Eric Gadsden, chairman of Michelmersh, will make the followingstatement: "I am pleased to report that we are continuing to make excellent progress thisyear. We see a marked improvement in the high quality end of the market and areexperiencing strong demand for our products across all the Group companies. Thishas translated into sales for the first four months of the year being 17% aheadof last year's figures for the same period. Additionally, energy costs have stabilised at significantly lower levels thanlast year and we are also now benefiting from the production efficiencies thathave been gained as a result of the recently completed capital investmentprogramme we made in our plant. We continue to run our plants at full output andsales are now starting to match these production levels. Progress on the planning application for residential development of 60 acres ofland at Telford in partnership with Persimmon Homes continues. We anticipatethis will be submitted in the near future and that, as detailed at the time ofour 2006 results, will result in the Group receiving significant cash incomefrom the project in 2008 and 2009. In early April the Competition Commission provisionally cleared the proposedacquisition of Baggeridge Brick by Wienerberger. We subsequently acquired a17.4% interest in Baggeridge Brick and are currently considering our options inthis regard. Following approval at the AGM, the Company's maintained dividend of 1.1 penceper share will be paid to shareholders on the register as at 5 October 2007, on31 October, reflecting our continued confidence in the Group's performance goingforward." For further information:Martin Warner, Michelmersh Brick Holdings plc: 01442 870 227Russell Cook, Charles Stanley Securities: 020 7149 6000Richard Sunderland/Jeremy Carey, Tavistock Communications: 020 7920 3150 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange