Trading Statement

RNS Number : 0297Q

Dialight PLC

16 June 2020

 

16 June 2020

UPDATE ANNOUNCEMENT

Dialight plc (LSE: DIA.L), the global leader in sustainable LED lighting for industrial applications, today issues the following brief update in relation to current trading, financial position, outlook and interim results date. 

Update on people and facilities

Our manufacturing facilities remain open. We continue to meet government mandated health and safety requirements and the well-being of our employees remains a high priority.

Current trading

In recent weeks we have experienced generally improving, but volatile, order intake, especially in the US. We are starting to see early signs of project business and our MRO orders have continued to strengthen, demonstrating a significant increase in our market share.

Due to the temporary closure of our facilities in April our order book is higher than we had expected, but we are increasing deliveries to customers week-on-week and have reduced the overdues backlog.  We are operating our Mexico facilities with reduced headcount and additional shifts which has enabled us to ramp up production levels to near pre- COVID levels.  There have been additional costs incurred in complying with government guidelines, critical in maintaining the "essential" status of all our facilities globally.

While, to date, component supply has been resilient, we have chosen to temporarily increase purchases of crucial inventory.  A number of our suppliers are not fully operational and the long lead times for transportation has made it necessary to ensure business continuity in these uncertain times.  We continue to monitor the supply chain situation closely.

Financial position

Net debt at 31 May 2020 was £17.3 million (31 December 2019: £16.5 million), reflecting in part the temporary increase in inventory and the closure of our facilities in April.  The company remains focused on strict cash management.  We continue to expect net debt at FY 2020 to be broadly in line with year-end FY 2019.

The Group has successfully increased its committed facilities to £35.0 million (from £25.0 million), through an extension with HSBC of £2m and accessing £8m through the CLBILS UK government loan scheme.  In addition, the Group has received banking covenant waivers for the June 2020 to September 2021 period.

Outlook

It remains difficult to provide guidance for the full year given the uncertainty in end markets.  We currently expect the trading performance for 2020 to be significantly H2 weighted.

Dialight's long term prospects remain excellent given the ongoing conversion to industrial LED lighting.  Longer term, we are confident Dialight is well positioned to grow profitability.

Interim results

Dialight will release its interim results on 3 August 2020.

Contacts: 

Dialight plc

Tel: [phone]

Fariyal Khanbabi - Group Chief Executive

Richard Allan - General Counsel & Company Secretary

About Dialight:  

Dialight (LSE: DIA.L) is a global leader in sustainable LED lighting for industrial applications. Dialight's LED products are providing the next generation of lighting solutions that deliver reduced energy consumption and create a safer working environment. Our products are specifically designed to provide superior operational performance, reliability and durability, reducing energy consumption and ongoing maintenance and achieving a rapid return on investment. The company is headquartered in the UK with operations in the USA, UK, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia, Mexico, Dubai and Brazil. www.dialight.com.

Notes:

1.  This announcement includes inside information as defined in Art. 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation No. 596/2014 and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Art. 17 of those regulations. On the publication of this announcement via a Regulatory Information Service, this information is considered to be in the public domain.

2.  The person responsible for making this announcement is Richard Allan, General Counsel & Company Secretary of Dialight plc.

LEI: 2138001AD31KKD29Z495

 

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