9 Feb 2017 07:00
9 February 2017
Northbridge Industrial Services Plc
("Northbridge" or the "Group")
Pre- Close Trading Update
Northbridge, the industrial services and rental company, is pleased to issue the following pre-close trading statement in advance of its preliminary results announcement for the year ended 31 December 2016, which is scheduled to be released during the week commencing 24 April 2017. Recent trading has been consistent with our internal forecasts and, consequently, the Group expects the result for 2016 to be broadly in line with management's expectations.
Northbridge has two core activities, Crestchic and Tasman Oil Tools. Crestchic is a specialist electrical equipment business which manufactures and rents loadbanks and transformers from its base in Burton on Trent and has depots in France, Germany, Belgium, Dubai and Singapore. It also has satellite locations in China and the USA. Tasman Oil Tools rents drilling equipment to the oil, gas and geothermal industries from its sites in Australia, New Zealand and Dubai.
Following a strategic review in 2015, all of Northbridge's other activities were considered non-core and were disposed of and the cash generated has been released back to the Group.
The slowdown in the oil & gas industry, which has suffered an estimated $740 billion cut in planned capital expenditure since 2015 (Wood Mackenzie), has had a substantial impact on all of Northbridge's businesses which serve that market.
Following the agreement between OPEC and other oil producing countries to restrict production from 1 January 2017 the price of crude oil has increased from its lows and, if maintained, will reduce the current surplus by the second half of 2017.This is likely to lead to a revival in exploration and production investment and we expect the group to benefit from this in time. However, it is still too early to predict the timing and impact of any recovery in our markets in 2017.
The fluctuation in the value of Sterling following the EU referendum vote in July has had a material impact on our accounts, most positively on the balance sheet and gearing, where a substantial proportion of our assets are held overseas, though our bank debt is in the UK. Conversely trading losses from our overseas businesses most actively involved in the oil and gas market have also increased on translation.
For further information
Northbridge Industrial Services plc 01283 531645
Eric Hook, Chief Executive Officer
Iwan Phillips, Finance Director
Stockdale Securities Limited (Nominated Adviser and Broker) 020 7601 6100
Robert Finlay/Antonio Bossi /Henry Willcocks
Buchanan Communications 020 7466 5000
Charles Ryland / Stephanie Watson/ Catriona Flint
About Northbridge:
Northbridge Industrial Services plc hires and sells specialist industrial equipment. With offices or agents in the UK, USA, Dubai, Belgium, Germany, France, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, China, Brazil and South Korea, Northbridge has a global customer base. This includes utility companies, the oil and gas sector, shipping, banking, mining, construction and the public sector. The product range includes loadbanks, transformers and oil tools. Northbridge was admitted to AIM in 2006 since when it has grown by providing a high level of service, responsiveness and flexibility to customers, by the acquisition of companies in the UK, Dubai, Australia, Belgium, New Zealand and Singapore and through investing further in those acquired companies to make them more successful. Northbridge continues to seek suitable businesses for acquisition across the world.