Touchstar Plc Regulatory News (TST)

21 May 2008 08:07



Belgravium Technologies plc

(BVM:AIM)

AGM and Trading Update

At the Annual General Meeting of Belgravium Technologies plc ("Belgravium" or the "Company"), to be held at the offices of Buchanan Communications at 10.30 today, Chairman, John Kembery, will make the following statement:

"Belgravium delivered a solid set of results for 2007, showing an 11% increase in both profit before tax and earnings per share. Belgravium Ltd performed well and major benefits were derived from the successful integration of TouchStar and NovoIVC.

The company is not immune from wider global economic conditions and recent trading in 2008 has seen a slow down in the number of forward order contracts secured. The longer term pipeline of new projects remains very healthy although short-term visibility on when they might come to fruition, is poor. Although the company benefits from a good degree of repeat business, the lack of new contracts will produce a first half result substantially below expectations.

The Directors are committed to a growth strategy and are proposing no change in this policy. We continue to examine acquisition opportunities and have developed a new high specification product which will be launched shortly. Pre-production samples have received general acclaim and we have already gained agreement covering forward orders for 5000 units.

Customers have a real need for Belgravium systems and the efficiency savings they bring and cannot postpone purchases indefinitely. Almost no contracts have been lost to competitors but, as the purchasing decision is regarded as a capital project, it is subject to the severe financial constraints prevalent in the current market. Our analysis leads us to believe that this situation will be remedied later in the year and those sales and profits will be restored to the expected annual running rate by the final quarter.

Whilst Belgravium, like all Companies, is experiencing the effects of current markets, we are convinced and comforted that this is not driven by a permanent change in our specific industry and that the Company is positioned strongly to address demand once markets recover."

For further information please contact:

KPMG Corporate Finance, a division of KPMG LLP which is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority for investment business activities, is acting for the Company as nominated adviser in relation to the matters set out in this announcement and is not acting for any other person in relation to these matters. KPMG Corporate Finance will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in relation to the contents of this announcement.