AGM and Trading Update

RNS Number : 3509U

Cropper(James) PLC

29 July 2015

 

Date: Wednesday  29 July, 2015                                                                                                      Embargoed: 11.00am

James Cropper PLC ("James Cropper", "Group" or the "Company")

AGM Statement and Trading Update

At the Company's Annual General Meeting held at 11.00am today, Mark Cropper, Chairman, made the following statement:

"I am pleased to report that the Group has enjoyed a promising start to the current financial year and has traded profitably in the first quarter with profit before tax in line with management expectations.

Group sales for the quarter are up 1.1% on the prior year quarter. Within James Cropper Paper ("Paper"), the paper business, gains have been seen from recently introduced products such as Cocoa and Coffee, whilst in the Technical Fibre Products business ("TFP") the growth in sales has been driven from the Aerospace and Energy markets.

Our investment for additional capacity in TFP has now been completed and is currently undergoing initial production commissioning.

The Technology & Innovation division has been active in developing our new business: James Cropper 3D Products. Investment activities are underway for capital equipment and recruitment.

Management development and restructuring is delivering greater customer and operational synergies across the Group. We anticipate ongoing employee investment as we continue to strengthen our global organisation. Fundamental research and product development continues to be a vital part of our growth strategy as a greater proportion of sales are driven from new products and technologies. In addition investment in manufacturing enhances our capacity and portfolio of capabilities.

I am confident that TFP will grow strongly in the coming year with accelerated sales into Aerospace, Green technologies and Defence markets. In Paper profitable volume growth and margin improvement will be realized from our focus on higher value niche global markets such as packaging and digital."

Mark Cropper

Chairman

Enquiries:
Isabelle Maddock, Group Finance Director	Robert Finlay/Henry Willcocks
James Cropper PLC	Westhouse Securities Limited
Tel: [phone]	Tel: [phone]
www.cropper.com

 

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