Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 7733J

Volex PLC

22 July 2013

 

22 July 2013

VOLEX plc

Annual General Meeting and Interim Management Statement

Volex plc ('Volex' or the 'Group'), the global provider of electrical, digital and optical connectors, is today holding its Annual General Meeting during which the Chairman will make the following statement on trading for the 16 weeks to 22 July 2013.

Group Trading

Although market conditions continue to remain challenging across all sectors, trading during the period was in line with Board expectations.

As stated at the time of our preliminary results on 28 May, we continue to focus on margin improvement. This has involved taking a disciplined approach to business that was not delivering an adequate gross margin. This has resulted and will continue to result in a reduction in revenues, principally in our Consumer division. There have also been delays in certain new technology development programmes, including active optical cables, impacting revenue expectations in the current year and leading to growth next year.  

Following the good progress that was made in the second half of last year to rationalise the business, we have identified further opportunities to reduce operating costs this year. We anticipate making in excess of $3m of additional annualised operational cost savings which, when combined with the cost savings already identified, brings the total annualised cost reduction to approximately $20m. This should further enhance the cash generating potential of the Group.

Overall the Board expects full year underlying operating profit, defined as normalised operating profit before exceptional restructuring costs and share based payments, for the year ending 31 March 2014, to be in line with Board expectations.   

The Group has reduced net debt at 30 June 2013 by $8.7m to $10.8m (31 March 2013:  $19.5m) reflecting improved working capital management.

Management Team

Our new Chief Executive Officer, Christoph Eisenhardt, joined Volex on 1 July 2013.  He is working very closely with the Board to review all aspects of our operational structure and performance to identify further opportunities to build sustainable long term shareholder value. We look forward to sharing detailed results of this review at the half year results presentation.

We are also pleased to announce the appointment to the Board of Nick Parker as Chief Financial Officer from 1 September 2013. Nick joins Volex from WANdisco plc where he was Chief Financial Officer and part of the team that delivered one of the most successful IPOs in recent years.

The Board would like to thank Daniel Abrams for his valuable contribution to the on-going repositioning of Volex and wish him every future success. Daniel will remain with the company until 30 September 2013 to ensure a smooth handover.

For further information please contact:

Volex plc

Christoph Eisenhardt                   Chief Executive Officer   [phone]

Daniel Abrams                                  Chief Financial Officer  [phone]

Tulchan Communications

Christian Cowley / James Macey White                                 [phone]

Forward looking statements

Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements which are based on Volex's expectations, intentions and projections regarding its future operating performance and objectives, anticipated events or trends and other matters that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements are sometimes, but not always, identified by their use of a date in the future or such words as 'anticipates', 'aims', 'could', 'may', 'should', 'expects', 'believes', 'intends', 'plans', 'targets', 'goal' or 'estimates'. By their very nature forward-looking statements are inherently unpredictable, speculative and involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, by way of example only and not limited to, general economic conditions, currency fluctuations, competitive factors, the loss or failure of one or more major customers, changes in raw materials or labour costs. Given these risks and uncertainties, prospective investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of such statements and, except as required by applicable law, Volex undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

 

END

 

 

IMSGMGMNVLDGFZM