Ricardo Plc Regulatory News (RCDO)

17 January 2018

Ricardo plc

Trading Update

Ricardo plc ("Ricardo") is a global engineering and strategic, technical and environmental consultancy business with a value chain that includes the niche manufacture and assembly of high-performance products. We employ over 3,000 professional engineers, consultants, scientists and support staff to deliver class-leading and innovative products and services for the benefit of our customers, which include the world's major transportation original equipment manufacturers and operators, supply chain organisations, energy companies, financial institutions and government agencies.

Ricardo is today providing a trading update ahead of its results in respect of the half year ended 31 December 2017. Ricardo plans to announce its Interim Results on 28 February 2018.

In the half year to 31 December 2017 order intake was strong, in excess of £235m, which was more than £50m higher than the same period last year and represents an organic growth of over 25%. The order intake includes £7m in respect of the Control Point acquisition, which was completed on 8 September 2017.

Order intake in the half year to 31 December 2017 has been generated from a broad range of sectors including the development of electric vehicle battery systems from a customer in China, passenger car new engine design work from Japan, a European car battery testing program, a large multi-year order for the independent verification and validation of a Taiwanese rail line and further air quality work for the UK Government. The order intake relating to electric or hybrid vehicles in the half year to 31 December 2017 has been particularly encouraging and is in the region of 24% of total order intake, compared to 17% for the year to 30 June 2017.

The order book has increased to a record high and was in excess of £290m at the end of December 2017, including £8m in respect of the Control Point acquisition; this compares to an order book of £244m at the same time last year. In addition, the order book contains a higher proportion of orders that are for delivery beyond this financial year which provides the group with greater visibility over the medium term.

Cash performance in the period has been strong with net debt reducing from £38m at the end of June 2017 to £32m at the end of December 2017. The Net debt at the end of the period is stated after paying £6m consideration and related costs in respect of the acquisition of Control Point Corporation in September 2017.

Dave Shemmans, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

"I am pleased to see the strong order intake in the first quarter continuing throughout the first half and resulting in an increase of over 30% compared to the first half of the prior year. We continue to see a good spread of orders across our Technical Consulting business and our Performance Products activities. This provides a good base as we head in to our traditionally more profitable second half of the year. I am also particularly pleased with our cash performance in the period driven by a strong working capital performance. We look forward to continued progress in the rest of the year."

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