Warranty claim against third party manufacturer

RNS Number : 7902C

Sprue Aegis plc

30 June 2016

 

30 June 2016

Sprue Aegis plc

("Sprue", the "Company" or the "Group")

Warranty claim against third party battery manufacturer

Sprue (AIM: SPRP), one of Europe's leading home safety products suppliers, announces that the Company has reached agreement with the Group's third party Chinese battery manufacturer on a warranty claim regarding the supply of its batteries that potentially cause a premature end of life low battery warning chirp in certain of the Group's smoke alarms, details of which were announced by the Company on 18 April 2016.  The Company wishes to stress that this is not a safety critical issue.

The financial benefit from the warranty claim will be provided by the manufacturer in the form of free of charge replacement batteries and is expected to be worth around £0.1m in 2016.  The remainder of the warranty claim is expected to be recovered over the next two years depending on the Group's battery purchase volumes from the manufacturer. 

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For further information, please contact:

Sprue Aegis plc                                                                                                                                 02477 717700

Graham Whitworth, Executive Chairman

Neil Smith, Group Chief Executive

John Gahan, Group Finance Director      

Stockdale Securities                                                                                                                       020 7601 6100

Tom Griffiths    

Notes to Editors

About Sprue Aegis plc

Sprue's mission is to protect, save and improve our customers' lives by making innovative, leading edge technology simple and accessible.

Sprue is one of the market leaders in the European home safety products market.  Its principal products are smoke alarms and CO alarms and accessories and the Group has an extensive portfolio of patented intellectual property. Sprue has patented its technology in Europe, the US and other selected territories. 

The introduction of new technologically advanced products and new safety products legislation in the UK and in Europe, and increasing levels of awareness of the dangers of smoke and CO, continue to drive sales.

Sprue manufactures CO sensors at its subsidiary, Pace Sensors for use in its CO alarms.  All other manufacturing and product assembly is outsourced to two principal third party contract manufacturers in China, one of which is Newell Brands which owns 23.6% of the Group and Pace Technology which is independent from Newell Brands.

Sprue enjoys a leading sales footprint in UK Retail and the UK's Fire & Rescue Services.  The Group also supplies the UK's Utility and Leisure sector which includes customers such as British Gas and Scottish Gas and has a well-established but relatively low market share of the UK Trade sector.   Sprue has a rapidly growing business in Continental Europe mainly selling through a network of independently owned third party distributors

The Group has won a number of prestigious Sunday Times Virgin Fast Track 100 Awards, which recognises the 100 fastest growing companies in the UK.  Sprue's head office is in Coventry and it has a second office in Gloucester.   Warehousing is located in Cambridge and Gloucester

Sprue's range of products is comprehensive, allowing the Group to tailor the range of smoke alarms, CO alarms and accessories to suit its customer needs at various price points under the following brands:

Ø FireAngel.  A market-leading and innovative battery operated alarm principally targeted at UK Retail and UK F&RS

Ø AngelEye.  Launched in 2012, Sprue sells smoke alarms and CO detectors principally into the French market under the AngelEye brand and to Sainsburys in the UK.  AngelEye has become a leading brand targeted at the DIY channel in France

Ø SONA.  A new, low power mains powered range of smoke and heat alarm products plus CO detection that are market leading and which can be wirelessly interconnected with up to 50 products on a single network

Ø FireAngel Pro.  Mains-powered smoke alarm with a 10 year, sealed for life lithium battery back-up.  Modern design, quick fitting, tamper-proof mounting plate which locks the alarm head securely in place.  Mounting plate has wide, easily accessible connection to the mains feed. Cable knock-out allows for compatibility with YT2 cable trunking

Ø Pace Sensors.  CO sensors used within Sprue's CO products are developed by Sprue and Pace Sensors, Sprue's wholly owned subsidiary in Canada. Pace Sensors' CO sensors are used within all FireAngel, AngelEye and Pace Sensors CO detectors and certain First Alert branded CO detectors

Sprue has the exclusive rights to distribute the products and brands of BRK Brands Europe Limited (a subsidiary of Newell Brands) in Europe namely, First Alert, BRK and Dicon.  First Alert is one of the leading safety products brands in North America.

For further product information, please visit:  www.sprue.com.

 

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