Xaar Regulatory News (XAR)

Xaar plc

Trading update 

At the Annual General Meeting ("AGM") held in Cambridge today, Andrew Herbert, Chairman of Xaar plc ("Xaar" or the "Group") will make the following statement:-

OPERATIONS

In responding to the challenges surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, our priorities have been to safeguard the health and wellbeing of our colleagues, to maintain our business operations and to continue to serve our customers.

In March, when lockdown measures were introduced in the UK and elsewhere, we implemented safe working methods for all staff where their attendance on site was necessary, particularly in our factories, while other staff were able to work remotely. The whole team has demonstrated tremendous resilience in difficult circumstances and as a result the business has been able to operate efficiently and continue to meet its commitments to customers.

CURRENT TRADING AND OUTLOOK

Overall trading in the first four months of the new financial year has been in line with the expectation we established before the Covid-19 outbreak. Sales have been weaker in Europe and North America but stronger in Asia where economies have come out of lockdown sooner. Our short-term order book is healthy but the outlook for the second half of the year remains uncertain and it is too early to assess the impact of the pandemic on the results for the full year 2020 and into 2021.

The board will re-establish guidance on expectations as more economies emerge from lockdown and there is greater certainty surrounding economic conditions. We remain confident and focused on our medium-term strategy to return the business to profitability and growth.

BALANCE SHEET AND LIQUIDITY

The Group entered the year with a strong balance sheet and net cash and an appropriate level of funding to support its strategy. We have maintained disciplined cost control and strong cash management over the past four months and remain well positioned.

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