Trading Statement

9 October 2015

XP Power Limited

("XP Power" or "the Group")

Trading Update

XP Power, a world leading developer and manufacturer of critical power control sub-assemblies for the electronics industry, is today issuing a trading update for the quarter ended 30 September 2015.

Trading

The Group traded in line with the Board’s expectations during the third quarter of the year. Revenues for the nine months ended 30 September 2015 were strong, increasing by 9% to £81.7 million, compared with £74.8 million in the prior year. In constant currency the increase in revenues was 4%.

In line with the comments made in the half-yearly report the Group has continued to see a strong performance across European markets but this has been offset by weaker order intake in North America in the third quarter.

Orders for the nine months ended 30 September 2015 were £80.3 million which was 2% higher than the prior year. In constant currency this was a decrease of 3%. 

Factory loading continued to be strong and this high utilisation, in conjunction with the ramp up of power converter production at our Vietnam facility, has produced a favourable margin impact as anticipated.

Financial Position

Net cash was £1.2 million at 30 September 2015 compared to £1.3 million at 31 December 2014.

Dividend

A dividend for the third quarter of 15 pence per share will be paid on 14 January 2016 to shareholders on the register at 18 December 2015. This brings the total dividend for the first three quarters of 2015 to 42 pence per share, representing an 8% increase over the 39 pence per share paid in respect of the first three quarters of 2014.

Outlook
 

Despite the challenging macroeconomic backdrop our European business has performed well and we expect this to continue into the fourth quarter. Conversely, order intake in North America has not continued at the same rate we saw in the first half of 2015, which will have a marginal impact on revenue in the fourth quarter.

We remain encouraged by new design wins and believe the Group is continuing to take market share as our portfolio of industry-leading power technology products is designed-in to new equipment by our target customers.  These design wins will translate to orders as our customers move to production. 

XP Power will issue a trading update for the year to 31 December 2015 on 8 January 2016.            

- Ends -

Enquiries:

XP Power                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
Duncan Penny, Chief Executive          [phone]
Jonathan Rhodes, Finance Director     [phone]                                           

Citigate Dewe Rogerson              [phone]
Kevin Smith/Jos Bieneman

Note to editors

XP designs and manufactures power controllers, the essential sub assembly in every piece of electrical equipment that converts the power from the electricity grid into the right form for the equipment to function.

XP typically designs in power control solutions into the end products of major blue chip OEMs, with a focus on the industrial (circa 45% of sales), healthcare (circa 30% sales) and technology (circa 25% of sales) sectors.  Once designed into a program, XP has a revenue annuity over the life cycle of the customer’s product which is typically 5 to 7 years depending on the industry sector. 

XP has invested in research and development and its own manufacturing facilities in China and Vietnam, to develop a range of up to date products based on its own intellectual property that provide its customers with significantly improved functionality and efficiency.

Headquartered in Singapore and listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange since 2000, XP serves a global blue chip customer base from 27 locations in Asia, Europe and North America.