SPGH.L Regulatory News (SPGH)

1 Jul 2008 07:42



The following replaces the Interim Management Statement and Trading Update released at 7.00am under RNS number 9326X, which was incorrectly released.

Superglass Holdings PLC

Interim Management Statement and Trading Update

Superglass Holdings PLC ("the Company" or "Superglass"), one of the UK's leading manufacturers of glass mineral fibre insulation products issues the following Interim Management Statement and trading update covering the period 1 March 2008, to date.

In our interim results announcement for the six months ended 29 February 2008 we said that trading conditions had improved since the start of 2008, although the take-up of CERT (Carbon Emissions Reduction Target) had been slower than originally anticipated. Today we confirm that the CERT programme has not yet gained the momentum we had expected, resulting in reduced activity in the UK. In order to compensate for this, Superglass has increased penetration into the European market, and secured contracts extending into 2009 and beyond, which, while making good contribution are insufficient to compensate in the remainder of the year for the current slippage in the UK. As a result, we expect that profit (pre amortisation and tax) will be below last year. The balance sheet remains healthy and our cash generation good.

Although, the rise in energy costs continues to be a concern it will also increase the immediate demand for high levels of insulation.  We have established a partial hedge against the increase in domestic energy prices and also introduced a cost reduction programme consisting of reduced labour, improved operational efficiencies, reduced stock levels and reduced energy usage.  We will continue to actively manage our cost base.

CERT is a government imposed legal duty that requires energy suppliers over the next three years, as part of their regulatory obligations, to make residential sector energy savings of twice the level set by previous targets. Because of this the Directors are confident that CERT will result in an increase in demand in due course. 

Tim Ross, Chairman commented

"Although the scale of demand from the CERT programme has been lower in the last 6 months than expected, we remain confident that the anticipated increase in volume is now coming through and that we are well placed to take full advantage of the impending upturn. In the meantime, we intend to continue to actively manage our cost base and seek to exploit potential new markets."

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