Statement re. Suspension

4 Jul 2005 08:00

Petards Group PLC04 July 2005 Petards Group plc ("Petards" or "the Company") Announcement Statement re. Share Suspension and Trading Update The Board of Petards, the AIM listed developer of advanced surveillance systems,has decided to withdraw the Group accounts for year ending 31 December 2004which were circulated to shareholders on 10 June. This follows the discovery ofdiscrepancies in the accounting for long-term contracts at one of itssubsidiaries relating to 2004 and earlier years. The accounts were due to belaid before shareholders at the Annual General Meeting to be held on 8 July2005. Because this has arisen after the expiration of the six month periodfollowing its year end, and to avoid the possibility of a false market in theCompany's shares, the Company asked for the suspension of its shares. A review is currently being carried out and the subsidiary's accounts will bere-audited as soon as possible. The Board expects to re-issue audited 2004accounts at the time of the release of the interim results for the period ended30 June 2005, at which time the shares are expected to be re-admitted to AIM.The Annual General Meeting will be adjourned until the accounts have beenre-issued. The discrepancies that have been discovered are not expected to affect adverselythe trading results for the current year. The Company has adequate workingcapital and is not in breach of any of its banking covenants. Its bankers, Bankof Scotland, have been kept fully informed. The Group has recently won three major UK rail CCTV contracts totalling £5.6m.These are with Alstom for West Coast Main Line operated by Virgin Trains, FirstGroup for ScotRail and Wabtec for London Eastern Railways. Trading in the firstsix months of the current year is in line with expectations and the Board ispleased with the progress that has been made in 2005. For further information: Petards Group plc Binns & Co PR LtdAndy Wonnacott Paul McManusFinance Director Tel: 020 7153 1485Tel: 01932 788288 Mob: 07980 541 893 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange