Sale of Property and impact of Brexit

RNS Number : 0639D

600 Group PLC

04 July 2016

 

4 July 2016

The 600 Group Plc

Sale of property and impact of Brexit

The 600 Group PLC ("the Group"), the AIM listed distributor, designer and manufacturer of industrial products (AIM: SIXH), is pleased to announce the sale for cash of its Letchworth Garden City long leasehold property for its book value of £2.0m net of selling expenses.

Following the integration of the two industrial laser system businesses TYKMA and Electrox, manufacturing activity has been centered in the new purpose built facility in Ohio, USA and consequently the existing UK site has become too large for the European sales support and service operation which is moving to a new leased site in Letchworth.

Contracts have been exchanged today, with completion expected in the next two weeks, for the sale of the property for a net £2.0m to the Kite Packaging Group.

The net proceeds after costs will be applied in reduction of the UK senior bank facility.

Commenting on the impact of Brexit, Paul Dupee Executive Chairman said:

"Although it is very early to speculate on the effect that leaving the EU may have in the coming years, we would ask shareholders to consider a number of important factors which we believe reduce the risks for the Group associated with this new trading environment. 60% of the Groups activity is currently conducted in the USA and these businesses are the main profit drivers of the Group. Furthermore, the dollar income we receive gives us a natural hedge against the majority of our purchases which are in dollars.

In the last year only 13% of Group sales were to EU countries and we are firmly focused on developing new markets outside of this area particularly in South East Asia. Over 15% of our total Group revenues are derived from the supply of spares parts and services and this is not dependent on achieving new sales but simply servicing our existing client base and lastly, the growth of our global industrial laser systems business is largely driven by legislative changes and the requirement for traceability both of which are increasing worldwide irrespective of the situation in the UK."

Enquiries:
The 600 Group PLC	Tel: [phone]
Paul Dupee, Executive Chairman
Neil Carrick, Finance Director
Spark Advisory Partners Limited (NOMAD)	Tel: [phone]
Sean Wyndham-Quin/ Miriam Greenwood
Cadogan PR Limited (Financial PR)	Tel: [phone]
Alex Walters
FinnCap (Broker)	Tel: [phone]
Tony Quirke/Mia Gardiner (Sales/Broking)

More information on the Group can be viewed at: www.600group.com

 

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