Trading Statement

RNS Number : 8350I

Optare PLC

24 November 2008

 



Optare plc

('Optare' or the 'Company')

Trading Update

Specialist bus & coach manufacturer, Optare plc, provides the following trading update: 

Optare launched two new major products at the recent Euro Bus Expo Exhibition in Birmingham. The first of these, the new integral double deck bus 'Rapta' will be capable of being powered by either internal combustion engine or hybrid technology. The second is the 'Solo+ EV' fully electrically powered, zero emission, version of Optare's market-leading 'Solo' midi-bus. It is pleasing to report that these products have been well received by the market place and that the Company approaches the end of the year with a strong order book, totaling £57.9million.

The closure of the Group's manufacturing activity in Rotherham is expected to be completed by the end of 2008, with the relocation of its Blackburn production facilities progressing well and completion anticipated for April 2009. The Group has, however, experienced some disruption to its production schedule during October and into November at its Blackburn, Leeds & Rotherham sites. This was caused by production problems at a key supplier's factory, which created a four week outage of an essential, customer specified material. It is not anticipated that this issue will significantly affect delivery performance against customer requirements but it has impacted the Group's ability to scale production in the final quarter of this year and it has become apparent that the lost output will not be recoverable during the current financial year. 

John Fickling commented, 'The Group has achieved a great deal this year with progress having been made across all areas of the business. Whilst we have to be mindful of the wider economic climate, our streamlined production facility and a strong order book give the Board strong cause to be optimistic for the future'.

For further information, please contact:

Andrew Brian, CEO, Optare plc Mike Dunn, CFO, Optare plc	[phone]
Lauren Jones MC2 (Financial PR)	[phone]
Stephen Keys/Camilla Hume Cenkos Securities plc	[phone]

 

END

 

 

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