Trading Statement
Spirent PLC
28 June 2001
SPIRENT PLC
TRADING UPDATE
Spirent plc, the international network technology company, today provided an
update on trading within its Communications group.
Spirent Communications has seen a period of stability in trading in the
second quarter of 2001.
Network Monitoring Division
The Network Monitoring division of Spirent Communications continues to
perform well. The order book remains robust and the outlook for further new
business is positive.
Telecom Test Division
The slowdown in activity experienced during April and described in our AGM
statement on 9 May has been followed by a level trend in order intake
through May and June. The curtailment of demand through stringent financial
control by our customers has been symptomatic of the market, but a continued
steady flow of orders and enquiries underlines the need for our test
equipment for engineers within our customers' research and development
laboratories.
Product Development
Our product development programme continues to keep us at the forefront of
technology. In the Network Monitoring division we have recently launched two
new elements for our CenterOps Systems(trade mark) software suite.
CenterOps Sentry (trade mark) introduces advanced fault and service
management functionality, permitting the correlation of detected network
faults to their impact on the user's service. CenterOps Flow (trade mark)
is an automated expert system that accelerates the analysis of detected
faults and can thereby help reduce customers' operating costs. A third
notable introduction is Icon, a software system that extends our network
monitoring technology above the Layer 1 physical network into the testing of
TCP/IP traffic, providing additional validation that the network is running
correctly.
Significant recent Telecom Test product launches include new systems for
optical signalling protocol testing, high density voice testing, DSL access
technologies and the GPRS mobile communications technology. Our new 10
Gigabit Ethernet product for the WAN won a Best of Show award at the
Networld+Interop trade fair in May - this was the third consecutive
N+I show at which we have received this honour.
We believe Spirent remains well positioned to meet the needs of the
development and deployment of next generation networks.
Enquiries:
Nicholas Brookes, Chief Executive Spirent plc +44 (0)1293 767676
Eric Hutchinson, Finance Director
Jon Coles/Rupert Young Brunswick (London) +44 (0)20 7404 5959
Sara Strong/Nina Pawlak Brunswick (New York) +1 212 333 3810
Background note:
Spirent plc is an international network technology company providing state-
of-the-art solutions with a focus on high growth, high margin activities.
Our Communications group unites leading edge performance analysis technology
with network operations expertise, enabling customers to accelerate the
development, deployment and assurance of next generation network equipment
and services worldwide. www.spirent.com
Spirent is quoted on the London Stock Exchange, ticker SPT. The Company
operates a Level 1 American Depository Receipt programme (ticker: SPNUY;
CUSIP number: 84856M100). For information, contact Brian Heston, The Bank of
New York, American Depositary Receipts, 101 Barclay St, 22 West, New York,
NY 10286. Phone: (212) 815 3938, Fax: (212) 571 3050, email:
bheston@bankofny.com www.adrbny.com
Spirent and the Spirent logo are trademarks of Spirent plc. All rights
reserved.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on
current expectations or beliefs, as well as assumptions about future events.
You can identify these statements by their use of words such as 'will',
'anticipate', 'estimate', 'expect', 'project', 'intend', 'plan', 'should',
'may', 'assume' and other similar words. You should not place undue reliance
on our forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future
performance and are subject to factors that could cause our actual results
to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these statements.
Such factors include: aggressive competition; our ability to develop and
commercialise new products and services; risks relating to the acquisition
or sale of businesses, our reliance on third party manufacturers and
suppliers; our exposure to liabilities for product defects; our reliance on
proprietary technology; our ability to grow in e-commerce; our ability to
attract and retain qualified personnel; risks of doing business
internationally; and risks of downturns in the high technology industries in
which we participate; and other risks described from time to time in Spirent
plc's Securities and Exchange Commission periodic reports and filings. We
undertake no obligation to update our forward-looking statements, whether as
a result of new information, future events or otherwise.