Trading Statement

RNS Number : 6113E

RWS Holdings PLC

11 April 2011

 



RWS GROUP

For immediate release                                                                                                   11 April 2011

RWS Holdings plc

Half Year Trading Statement

RWS Holdings plc (RWS), Europe's leading provider of intellectual property support services (patent translations and searches) and technical translations, today provides an update on trading for the half year ended 31 March 2011 ahead of the announcement of its half year results on 2 June 2011.

Trading & Financial Update

The Board is encouraged by strong trading in the first six months of the financial year and expects Group revenues to increase by at least 10% to £32.4 million from £29.4 million in the comparable prior year period.  Having fully hedged our Euro and dollar trading exposure for the current financial year, we anticipate that profits for the first half will be comfortably on course to deliver market expectations for the year as a whole.

This reflects a strong performance in our patent translations business, which represents approximately 70% of Group revenue, driven by a combination of an increase in the volume of patent translations from existing customers and the phasing in of work from several significant client wins in 2010.  We have also seen a continued improvement in our technical translations business due largely to a sustained recovery in Germany. PatBase, a part of our intellectual property information business, has benefitted from a strong January renewal period for its high margin subscription service.

Having successfully moved into new freehold premises in South Buckinghamshire over the Christmas and New Year period, bringing four separate offices together into one location, we are progressing opportunities to significantly improve the Group's operational efficiency.

The Group continues to enjoy a strong financial position with shareholder funds in excess of £53.7 million and net cash of £19.8 million as at 31 March, underpinning the Group's ability to both make acquisitions and support its progressive dividend policy.

Market & Regulatory Update

The European Patent Office recently published figures showing that the number of European patents applied for in 2010 increased by 10% over 2009, an encouraging sign that research and development and the protection of intellectual property has remained a priority through the financial crisis and global downturn.

There has also been a significant recent development in relation to a proposed single EU-wide patent regime, namely the European Union Patent.  On 8 March 2011, the European Court of Justice ruled that the proposed plans for a European and Community Patent Court were not compatible with the provisions of EU law, effectively closing down an important avenue towards reducing expensive litigation for international rights holders.  Whilst efforts will be made to circumvent this issue, major corporates are unlikely to risk a new regime for the protection of their rights until a legal structure for litigation and appeal has been ratified, and is seen to be operating effectively, which is unlikely to be the case in the short to medium term.

Andrew Brode, Executive Chairman of RWS, commented on outlook:

"The Board is very pleased with the Group's performance in the first half of the year. From our strong financial position, we are well placed to grow our market share in patent translation and benefit from improvements in the technical translations and intellectual property services markets.  With our Euro and dollar trading exposure fully hedged for the current financial year we, therefore, expect to make continued strong progress during the second half of the year."

For further information contact:

RWS Holdings plc

Andrew Brode, Executive Chairman                                                                               01753 480200

MHP

Katie Hunt/Simon Hockridge                                                                                        020 3128 8100

Numis

Stuart Skinner (Nominated Adviser)                                                                              020 7260 1000

James Serjeant (Corporate Broker)

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

 

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