For immediate release 12 February 2009
RWS Holdings plc
AGM Statement
RWS Holdings plc (RWS), Europe's leading provider of intellectual property support services (patent translations and searches) and technical translations, is today holding its Annual General Meeting.
Andrew Brode, Executive Chairman, will make the following remarks at the AGM:
'The financial year ended 30 September 2008 was another year of strong growth with most of the Group's business areas performing well. This growth was complemented by the acquisition, in February 2008, of Document Service Center in Berlin which is trading in line with our expectations as part of the Group.
'The current financial year ending 30 September 2009 has started well. The London Agreement is now fully implemented and profits for the first quarter ending 31 December 2008 are significantly ahead of both the preceding year and of management's expectations for the current year. This achievement has been driven by highly favourable currency trends.
'The Group enjoys a strong financial position with substantial net cash balances. We are actively seeking selective acquisitions to further enhance shareholder value. We remain optimistic that our chosen strategy will deliver continued growth in 2009 and that the dividend will advance in line with that growth.
'An update on the Group's performance for the half year ending 31 March 2009 will be provided on 15 April.'
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For further information, please contact:
RWS Holdings plc
Andrew Brode, Executive Chairman 01753 480200
Smithfield
Katie Hunt / Rebecca Whitehead 020 7903 0603
Numis
Stuart Skinner / James Serjeant 020 7260 1000
About RWS:
RWS is Europe's leading provider of intellectual property support services (patent translations and technical searches) to the medical, pharmaceutical, chemical, aerospace, defence, automotive, electronics and telecoms industries. RWS also provides specialist technical, legal and financial translation services for areas of industry outside the patent arena. RWS is based in the UK, with offices in Europe, New York, Tokyo and Beijing, and is listed on AIM, the London Stock Exchange regulated market (RWS.L).
Approximately 1,000,000 patent documents are published per annum, 200,000 of which are published in Europe (Source: European Patent Office) and the intellectual property market has shown significant growth in recent years, with patent applications in Europe having doubled over the last ten years.
For further information please visit: www.rws.com.