Northamber Regulatory News (NAR)

16 Nov 2007 13:13

Northamber PLC16 November 2007 16 November 2007 Northamber plc Interim Management Statement - 1st Quarter to 30th September 2007 At the Annual General Meeting of the company held today, the Chairman, DavidPhillips made the following comments regarding the trading of the group for thefirst quarter in the year to 30th June 2008. Sales for the quarter were essentially much in line with those for thecomparative period last year. This lack of growth was but one effect of thecontinued weakness of the US Dollar. This is likely to continue to exert asignificant downward pressure on unit pricing with the inevitable result onsales revenues. The broader issues concerning the future availability of creditalso cannot assist a growth in sales. Gross profits for the period were also much in line with those of the prior yearand management continues its very tight overhead controls and focus on improvedefficiencies. The unaudited, consolidated result for the first quarter aremarginally better than in the equivalent period last year. A return to viable commercial opportunity in terms of 'Return on CapitalEmployed' for our sector remains elusive. It is hindered by the failure of toomany prime vendors in a price deflation environment to grasp the high levels ofinherent core values distribution brings in enabling the finance and logisticsof their market penetration, reach and success. As usual we pay particular attention to cash management and we still retain ahealthy cash balance of £9.64m at the period end. For further information, contact: Northamber Plc David Phillips Tel: 020 8296 7000 Charles Stanley Securities Philip Davies Tel: 0207 149 6000 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange