Restore Regulatory News (RST)

7 Sep 2006 07:03

Radstone Technology PLC07 September 2006 NOT FOR RELEASE OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO AUSTRALIA, CANADA OR JAPAN. For Immediate Release 07 September 2006 Radstone Technology PLC ("Radstone" or the "Company") Chairman's AGM Statement 'Strong Order Book' 'Unanimous Rejection of Eurotech's Inadequate Offer' At today's annual general meeting of Radstone Technology PLC, a leadingindependent supplier of high performance, embedded computer products for defenceand aerospace applications, the Chairman, Rhys Williams will make the followingstatement: "In our preliminary announcement in July 2006 I stated my intention to retire atthe AGM. Following the hostile offer from Eurotech, your Board has requestedthat I remain as Chairman until such time as the matter is concluded. It istherefore the intention of the Board to re-appoint me as a director and Chairmanof the Company following this meeting. As is customary at this time I will now comment on current trading. Sales and Order Book Group sales in the first five months are running ahead of the same period lastyear. New orders have sustained the order book at a high level with an increaseof 5% over the same period last year, despite a 7% reduction in the US dollar /sterling exchange rate. These new orders include the previously announcedcontract wins with Astronautics on the A400M Military Transport Aircraft andThales on the Watchkeeper Unmanned Aerial Vehicle programme. Orders in hand fordelivery over the next seven months amount to £28.2 million compared to £23.3million at the same time last year. As in previous years, deliveries are verylikely to be heavily biased towards the second half of the year. Contract Extensions In addition to the order book, we are expecting an increase in value, in thenear term, to existing major contracts including both the Abrams M1A2 tank andthe Eurofighter Typhoon, as a result of the following recent developments: •General Dynamics Land Systems announced that it has won additional contracts to upgrade M1A2 tanks. These contracts currently include an order to upgrade 72 tanks being returned from Iraq, 60 additional upgrades of US Army tanks and an order from Saudi Arabia for the upgrade of 373 tanks. •BAE Systems has announced that it has secured a contract with Saudi Arabia for the supply of 72 Eurofighter Typhoons. Radstone expects shortly to receive additional orders for the processor boards to be used on these aircraft. These contract extensions will be worth in excess of £9 million to Radstone. New Design Wins It has been a productive period for new design-wins, the most notable of whichwas for the central electronics unit for the US Army's non line of sight missile(NLOS) System. NLOS is part of the US Army's $118 billion future combat system (FCS) and is planned to be one of the first parts of this system to be deployed.We expect the production contract for this programme to be our second largestcontract by value, after that for the Abrams M1A2. In addition we have alsoreceived an order for development units for the US Navy, which is consideringdeploying the NLOS system on surface ships. Another notable design win involves Octec providing a tracking system for therecently announced first successful autonomous in-flight refuelling test (wherean F/A-18 fighter aircraft under automatic control took on fuel in flight froman Omega Air Boeing 707 tanker). This capability will be most relevant in thefast growing unmanned airborne vehicle segment, where increasing missionduration is crucial. Prospects In light of the strong order book, new design wins and expected extensions toexisting major contracts, your Board remains highly confident about theprospects for the current year and beyond as an independent company. Accordinglythe Board unanimously continues to reject Eurotech's opportunistic offer as itundervalues your Company and is neither in the best interests of shareholdersnor other stakeholders. Your Board continues to explore all options to maximise shareholder value. Amore detailed response to the Eurotech offer will be sent to shareholders in duecourse. In the meantime, we reiterate that shareholders are strongly advised totake no action." Enquiries:Radstone plc For today: 020 7466 5000Jeff Perrin, Chief ExecutivePeter Cavill, Director Close Brothers Corporate Finance Limited Tel: 020 7655 3100Andrew CunninghamDavid Wardrop JPMorgan Cazenove Tel: 020 7588 2828Julian CazaletShona GrahamDavid Harvey-Evers Buchanan Communications Tel: 020 7466 5000Tim Thompson Mob: 07710 718 649Nicola Cronk Mob: 07973 313 365Susanna Gale Close Brothers Corporate Finance Limited, which is regulated by The FinancialServices Authority Limited in the United Kingdom, is acting for Radstone and noone else in connection with this matter and will not be responsible to anyoneother than Radstone for providing the protections afforded to customers of CloseBrothers Corporate Finance Limited nor for providing advice in relation to thismatter. JPMorgan Cazenove, which is regulated by The Financial Services AuthorityLimited in the United Kingdom, is acting for Radstone and no one else inconnection with this matter and will not be responsible to anyone other thanRadstone for providing the protections afforded to customers of JPMorganCazenove nor for providing advice in relation to this matter This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange