21 Aug 2020 07:00
21 August 2020
The 600 Group PLC
New CLBILS Loan facility, trading update and timing of 2020 results
The 600 Group PLC ("the Group" or the "Company"), the diversified industrial engineering company (AIM: SIXH), today provides the following trading update:
COVID-19, Trading and CLBILS Loan
The UK Machine Tool business, Colchester Machine Tools Solutions, has secured a £1.2m ($1.6m) new term loan with a 3-year bullet repayment under the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS) through HSBC. The loan will help provide headroom in funding the business through the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As reported in the trading update on 5 May 2020 the international response to COVID-19, including government restrictions on working and movement, have impacted the Company across all operating regions. Whilst there continues to be reduced activity, the level of order backlog has returned to acceptable levels, given the circumstances, and is now 15% down against the previous period last year. All sites are operational and the continued health and wellbeing of the Group's employees remains a key priority with operating procedures modified, PPE usage increased and building changes made to adapt to working safely.
The Group continues to take advantage of government stimulus packages, including loans under the USA Government Paycheck Protection Program and the new UK loan announced today. The Board has taken action to reduce overheads and deferred all non-critical capital expenditure. Short time working and furloughing of staff has continued along with salary reduction schemes for many employees across the Group.
The de-risking of the Group in the previous year with the receipt of surplus from the successful pension scheme buy out and the sale of the Gamet business and property has helped the Group stabilise debt levels. Group debt, at $14.5m excluding the government loan assistance, remains in line with that at the end of March 2020 and the Group is covenant compliant with adequate banking facilities.
Timing of 2020 Results
Following consultation with its auditors, the Company has concluded that due to delays to audit fieldwork caused by the ongoing COVID-19 situation, more time is required to publish the annual accounts.
Therefore, with the consent of AIM Regulation and the automatic extension granted by Companies House, the announcement of the Group's final results and publication of the 2020 Annual Report and Accounts will be delayed beyond the normal reporting deadline of 30 September 2020. However, the Company will publish and file the 2020 financial statements as soon as possible and no later than 31 December 2020.
Given the continued uncertainty around the impact of COVID-19 the Board are still unable to provide any guidance for the current financial year ended 31 March 2021 until greater clarity in trading activity becomes apparent.
Paul Dupee, Executive Chairman, stated "These are unprecedented times. We have taken decisive action to ensure our workforce and technical competencies remain intact through this period of uncertainty so that the Group can react quickly as markets improve".
ENDS
Enquiries:
The 600 Group PLC Paul Dupee, Executive Chairman Neil Carrick, Finance Director
| Tel: 01924 415000 |
Instinctif Partners Mark Garraway Rosie Driscoll | Tel: 0207 457 2020 |
Spark Advisory Partners Limited (NOMAD) Matt Davis
| Tel: 020 3368 3553 |
WH Ireland (Broker) Harry Ansell
| Tel: 020 7220 1666 |
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014
About The 600 Group PLC
The 600 Group PLC is a distributor, designer and manufacturer of industrial products with three principle areas of activities:
Machine Tools
The business has a strong reputation in the market for metal turning machines. Products range from small conventional machines for education markets, CNC workshop machines and CNC production machines. Selected outsourcing partners support the manufacturing of these machines and they are marketed through the Group's wholly owned international sales organisation and a global distribution network.
Precision Engineered Components
Machine spares are distributed to customers globally to help maintain the installed base of group machines which number in excess of 100,000. Additionally, work holding products are sold via specialist distributors to OEMs, including other machine builders.
Industrial Laser Systems
Industrial laser systems cover laser marking and processing including cutting, drilling, ablation and a host of other niche applications in the marking and micro machining sectors. They require no consumables, can operate on a continuous high speed basis and can be integrated into customers' production lines. The businesses have their own technology and proprietary software. Customer applications are diverse and range from aerospace to medical and pharmaceuticals. The requirement for increased product and component traceability is one of the market drivers.
More information on the Group can be viewed at: www.600group.com