POST-CLOSE STATEMENT

RNS Number : 6528P

Chemring Group PLC

21 November 2016

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                  21 NOVEMBER 2016

CHEMRING GROUP PLC

POST-CLOSE STATEMENT

Chemring Group PLC ("Chemring" or "the Group") today provides its post-close statement in respect of the year ended 31 October 2016.

FY16 trading

The Board expects the Group's trading performance for the year to 31 October 2016 ("FY16") to be in line with market expectations, with a slight upside resulting from foreign exchange gains.

Revenue in the final quarter of FY16 was approximately £188.0 million, an increase of 50.6% compared with £124.8 million in the same period last year. Revenue for FY16 was approximately £477.0 million (2015: £377.3 million); on a constant currency basis this figure would have been approximately £440.0 million.

The Group's order book at 31 October 2016 was approximately £593.0 million (2015: £569.6 million). The weakening of sterling, principally against the US dollar, accounts for approximately £103.0 million of the growth in order book. On a constant currency basis, the order book declined year on year against a strong prior year period which contained all of the 40mm ammunition contract.

Financial position

At 31 October 2016, net debt was approximately £88.0 million (2015: £154.3 million). On a constant currency basis this figure would have been approximately £65.0 million. The ratio of net debt to underlying EBITDA is well within the Group's target range of 1.00x to 1.50x.

Of the Group's £153.4 million outstanding US private placement loan notes, £29.5 million will be repaid today from existing cash resources. The remaining loan notes are scheduled to be repaid in November 2017 (£55.4 million) and November 2019 (£68.5 million).

The Group's FY16 results are scheduled to be announced on 19 January 2017.

-ENDS-

For further information:

Michael Flowers          Group Chief Executive, Chemring Group PLC             01794 833901

Andrew Davies             Interim Finance Director,                                           01794 833901

Chemring Group PLC  

Rupert Pittman            Group Director of Corporate Affairs,                           01794 833901

Chemring Group PLC              

Andrew Jaques            MHP Communications                                                020 3128 8100

John Olsen

James White

Notes to editors

·       Chemring is a global business that specialises in the manufacture of high technology products and the provision of services to the aerospace, defence and security markets

·       Employing approximately 2,500 people worldwide, and with production facilities in four countries, Chemring meets the needs of customers in more than fifty countries

·       Chemring is organised under three strategic product segments: Countermeasures, Sensors & Electronics, and Energetic Systems

·       Chemring has a diverse portfolio of products that deliver high reliability solutions to protect people, platforms, missions and information against constantly changing threats

·       Operating in niche markets and with strong investment in research and development ("R&D"), Chemring has the agility to rapidly react to urgent customer needs

www.chemring.co.uk

Cautionary statements

This announcement contains unaudited information based on management accounts and forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as assumptions about future events. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate only to historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements often use words such as anticipate, target, expect, estimate, intend, plan, goal, believe, will, may, should, would, could, is confident, or other words of similar meaning. Undue reliance should not be placed on any such statements because they speak only as at the date of this document and, by their very nature, they are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and can be affected by other factors that could cause actual results, and Chemring's plans and objectives, to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.

There are a number of factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements are; increased competition, the loss of or damage to one or more key customer relationships, changes to customer ordering patterns, delays in obtaining customer approvals for engineering or price level changes, the failure of one or more key suppliers, the outcome of business or industry restructuring, the outcome of any litigation, changes in economic conditions, currency fluctuations, changes in interest and tax rates, changes in raw material or energy market prices, changes in laws, regulations or regulatory policies, developments in legal or public policy doctrines, technological developments, the failure to retain key management, or the key timing and success of future acquisition opportunities or major investment projects.

Chemring undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement contained within this announcement, regardless of whether those statements are affected as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, save as required by law and regulations.

No statement in this announcement is intended as a profit forecast for FY16 and no statement in this announcement should be interpreted to mean that underlying operating profit for the current or future financial years would necessarily be above a minimum level, or match or exceed the historical published underlying operating profit or set a minimum level of underlying operating profit.

Important notice

This announcement does not constitute or form part of, and should not be construed as, any offer, invitation or recommendation to purchase, sell or subscribe for any securities in any jurisdiction and neither the issue of the information nor anything contained herein shall form the basis of or be relied upon in connection with, or act as an inducement to enter into, any investment activity. This announcement and the information contained herein do not constitute an offer of securities in the United States. The securities referred to in this announcement have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration under the Securities Act or pursuant to an exemption from, or a transaction not subject to, such registration requirements. The Group has not registered and does not intend to register the offering of any securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of any securities in the United States.

 

END

 

 

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