UK Oil & Gas Regulatory News (UKOG)

12 Nov 2007 07:00

Sarantel Group PLC12 November 2007 12 November 2007 SARANTEL GROUP PLC Year end trading update Sarantel Group PLC (AIM: SLG), the leading manufacturer of revolutionaryfiltering antennas for mobile and wireless devices, is publishing a year endtrading update for the 12 months to 30 September 2007. Sales for the year remained depressed as highlighted in the Group's interimresults and are expected to be in the order of £2m for the year. This isprincipally due to the slower than expected development in the handheld GPSmarket affecting take up of the Group's 2nd generation GPS antenna and lowerthan expected volumes of portable satellite radio units sold. However, theGroup has continued to reduce its cost base and has cut its cash outflow by 19%in the second half compared to the first half of the financial year. At 30September 2007, the Group had cash balances of £2.4m, of which £0.7m is held tosecure leasing liabilities. The Board remains confident about the Group's medium term prospects particularlyas it believes that the mass market adoption of hand portable GPS navigationdevices is now beginning to develop. Specifically in its core GPS navigation business Sarantel has made good progressincluding: Hand Portable GPS • Sarantel has received break-through production orders for a hand portable outdoor GPS navigation device, to be launched in early 2008, from a top tier GPS device supplier. This design win is significant as it is a break-in to a highly reputable mainstream GPS supplier and confirms that Sarantel's technology plays a key role in GPS devices operating in demanding electronic environments. • Sarantel has recently received production orders for a new generation of Golf range finder products from SKYGOLF. • Sarantel's new generation GPS P3 antenna, a small antenna measuring 7.5 x 12mm, has been selected as an optional GPS antenna in a UMPC reference design by Intel. Automotive GPS • Sarantel has received production orders from a Fiat supplier for an innovative personal navigation device for the newly launched Fiat 500. At the Interim results, the Board stated that it planned to diversify theGroup's product portfolio to ensure Sarantel generated short-term revenueswhilst the high-volume hand portable GPS business developed toward massadoption. Sarantel has begun to see successful early results with thisstrategy, including: Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) • Sarantel has signed an agreement with Terrestar Networks, an emerging mobile network operator. Terrestar plans to build, own and operate North America's first 4G integrated mobile satellite and terrestrial communications network and the agreement is for a fully-funded feasibility study into the use of Sarantel's antenna solution for their future mobile handsets. Military GPS • Sarantel is in discussions with a number of suppliers to the US military sector, for the use of its GPS antennas. This new and exciting market enables the Group to highly leverage the capabilities of its antenna technology. The Board is confident that these recent developments demonstrate that theGroup's antenna technology provides the best solution for high-performanceapplications. It remains convinced that Sarantel will play an important role inthe high volume hand portable GPS navigation market as it reaches critical mass. Sarantel expects to publish its preliminary results for the year to 30 September2007 in early 2008. For further information please contact: Sarantel Group PLC 01933 670560Geoff Shingles, Chairman www.sarantel.comDavid Wither, Chief ExecutiveSitkow Yeung, Finance Director Ambrian Partners 0207 776 6400Tim Goodman College Hill 0207 457 2020Adrian Duffield / Ben Way Notes to Editors: Sarantel is a leader in the design of high-performance miniature antennas forportable wireless applications including hand-held navigation, satellite radioand laptop computers. Sarantel's revolutionary ceramic filtering antennas offer dramatically improvedperformance over existing antenna designs, resulting in a clearer signal, betterrange and a 90 per cent reduction in the amount of signal radiation absorbed bythe body. Because of their smaller size and higher capabilities, Sarantel's antennasenable manufacturers to create innovative high-volume consumer productsincorporating technologies such as GPS, Satellite Radio, WiMax and MobileSatellite Services. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange