28 March 2019
Volex plc
("Volex" or the "Company")
Trading Update
Volex plc, the global provider of cable assemblies, issues the following trading update ahead of the announcement on 13 June 2019 of its full-year results for the year ended 31 March 2019.
· Trading continues to be ahead of market expectations across the group, with the three acquisitions made during the year all performing to plan
· Full-year sales expected to exceed $365 million (2017/18: $322 million)
· Cash as at 22 March 2019 of $18.4 million compares with $24.9 million reported at the half year. Volex invested $16.5 million into the acquisition of GTK and related costs in December 2018, and has therefore generated $10.0 million of net free cash flow over the second half of the year
· Volex intends to resume the payment of a dividend in respect of the 2019/20 financial year assuming trading continues to perform in line with our expectations and no material acquisitions are made during the period
Nat Rothschild, Executive Chairman of Volex, commented:
"As announced at the time of the first-half results in November 2018, competition continued to be intense in the second half, and cost inflation has continued across both our raw material and labour cost lines. However, Volex has again produced a solid performance in both sales and operating margins. There remain substantial identifiable opportunities for both divisions to improve sales and margin performance through disciplined execution of our strategy, in both the short and longer term, and we expect to deliver a robust trading performance for the full year, ahead of the Board's expectations. The Board remains excited about the Company's ability to drive shareholder value, and our team continue to actively look for new opportunities to grow our business and technical capabilities."
This announcement, released by Volex plc, contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 (MAR), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.
For further information please contact:
Volex plc
Nat Rothschild, Executive Chairman
Daren Morris, Group Chief Financial Officer
Tel: 020 8017 3240/07909 995 887
Liberum
Nominated Adviser & Broker
Steve Pearce
Euan Brown
Tel: 020 3100 2222
Whitman Howard
Joint Broker
Hugh Rich
Nick Lovering
Tel: 020 7659 1234