AGM and Dividend Statement

RNS Number : 9785X

Midwich Group PLC

10 May 2021

 

2021 AGM statement

10 May 2021

Midwich Group plc

("Midwich" or "the Group")

AGM and Dividend Statement

Midwich, a global specialist audio visual distributor to the trade market, will hold its Annual General Meeting at 10.00am today at the Group's head office in Diss.

At the meeting Andrew Herbert, Chairman, will make the following statement:

"Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 crisis, the Group delivered a robust performance in 2020, achieving revenue growth and strong cash generation, developing our vendor portfolio and successfully completing two important strategic acquisitions which gave us a presence in the North American and Middle Eastern markets. The Board believes that the strategic development achieved in 2020 has significantly strengthened the Group's market position.  We remain committed to our established strategy of delivering strong organic growth, supplemented by targeted acquisitions, as well as building our expertise in a broader range of markets and products.  The Board was delighted to welcome the eLink team to our Group in April, strengthening further our capabilities and presence in the unified communications market.

Despite further significant lockdowns in early 2021, trading in the first four months of the year has been ahead of the Board's expectations, and significantly ahead of the comparative period last year.  Although a number of the Group's end user markets are expected to remain subdued for some time, good progress has been made in the rest of the business and all government employment support has now ceased.   Should vaccine programmes continue to progress successfully in the Group's key markets, the Board now expects that revenue and profit for the full year will be comfortably ahead of its original expectations.

In view of this continued progress and encouraging outlook, the Board is pleased to declare the resumption of dividend payments starting with a special dividend of 3p per share, which will be paid on 2 July 2021 to shareholders who are on the register at 21 May 2021.  The Board expects to pay both interim and final dividends for the current financial year, payable in October 2021 and June 2022 respectively. "

Midwich intends to announce a trading update for the six months to 30 June 2021 on 20 July 2021.

For further information:

Midwich Group plc Stephen Fenby, Managing Director Stephen Lamb, Finance Director	Tel: [phone]
Investec Bank plc  (NOMAD and Joint Broker to Midwich) Carlton Nelson Ben Griffiths	Tel: [phone]
Berenberg  (Joint Broker to Midwich) Ben Wright Mark Whitmore Alix Mecklenberg-Solodkoff	Tel: [phone]
FTI Consulting Alex Beagley Tom Hufton Rafaella de Freitas	Tel: [phone]

About Midwich Group

Midwich is a specialist AV distributor to the trade market, with operations in the UK and Ireland, EMEA, Asia Pacific and North America. The Group's long-standing relationships with over 500 vendors, including blue-chip organisations, support a comprehensive product portfolio across major audio visual categories such as large format displays, projectors, digital signage and professional audio. The Group operates as the sole or largest in-country distributor for a number of its vendors in their respective product sets.

The Directors attribute this position to the Group's technical expertise, extensive product knowledge and strong customer service offering built up over a number of years. The Group has a large and diverse base of over 20,000 customers, most of which are professional AV integrators and IT resellers serving sectors such as corporate, education, retail, residential and hospitality. Although the Group does not sell directly to end users, it believes that the majority of its products are used by commercial and educational establishments rather than consumers.

Initially a UK only distributor, the Group now has around 1,000 employees across the UK and Ireland, EMEA, Asia Pacific and North America. A core component of the Group's growth strategy is further expansion of its international operations and footprint into strategically targeted jurisdictions.

For further information, please visit  www.midwichgroupplc.com

 

END

 

 

AGMSSLFLWEFSEII