Interim Management Statement

15 Aug 2007 07:01

Carclo plc15 August 2007 For Immediate Release 15 August 2007 Carclo plc Interim Management Statement The board is pleased to report a positive start to the new financial year withthe group trading in line with our expectations for the three months ended 30June 2007. Sales in Technical Plastics are ahead of the same period last year despite theadverse translation impact from a weaker dollar. As expected, the specialistmedical and optical business continues to grow with new projects which came onstream in the second half of last year now running at full production. In the UK, the Technical Plastics operations delivered an encouraging salesperformance. As part of our continuing plan to drive margin growth we haveinitiated a modest rationalisation programme at our Slough facility andcommenced the transfer of the majority of the 24/7 programmes to our other UKfacilities. The Precision Products business has had a good start to the year. Last year theautomotive business was affected by an adverse shift away from its higher marginmultiband antenna product which impacted profitability. This year, a temporarysurge in demand for multiband has resulted in sales and profits in the firstquarter being well ahead of the same period last year. Investment in new technologies has continued during the first quarter of thefinancial year with good progress continuing to be made at Conductive InkjetTechnology ("CIT") across a broad range of very promising opportunities. We areseeing a demand for production quantities of products, especially RFID enabledproducts, from the high volume MetalJet 6000 machine. Our US partner, Preco, hasinvested in a first production installation of MetalJet 6000 and is planning tooffer a contract manufacturing service alongside the sale of complete machineinstallations. The Preco facility is anticipated to be operational before theend of this calendar year and is expected to generate significant future inkrevenues for CIT. Overall, therefore, there have been no significant changes in the position andoutlook for the group since the results for the year ended 31 March 2007 werepublished ten weeks ago. - Ends - Enquiries: Carclo plc 01924 268040Ian Williamson, Chief Executive Weber Shandwick Financial 020 7067 0700Richard Hews/James White Notes to Editors About Carclo (LSE: CAR) • Carclo plc is a global supplier of technical plastic components. It is a public company whose shares are quoted on the London Stock Exchange. • 75% of sales are derived from the supply of fine tolerance, injection moulded plastic components, which are used in medical, automotive, telecom and electronics products. This business, Carclo Technical Plastics, operates internationally in a fast growing and dynamic market underpinned by rapid technological development. • 25% of sales are derived from the supply of manufactured systems to the automotive and aerospace industries. • Carclo's strategy is to grow rapidly in low cost manufacturing regions and to develop new technologies and products to underpin future growth. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange