AGM Trading Update

RNS Number : 4740C

Gooch & Housego PLC

23 February 2022

 

For  immediate release

23 February 2022

Gooch & Housego PLC

("G&H" or the "Company")

AGM Trading Update

"Strong and improving overall demand"

Gooch & Housego PLC (AIM: GHH), the specialist manufacturer of photonic components & systems, will hold its Annual General Meeting at 11.00am today at the Company's headquarters in Ilminster, Somerset.

During the first four months of the financial year, we have seen strong and improving levels of overall demand and the Group has a record order book across its principal areas of business, industrial lasers, telecoms, A&D and life sciences. There continues to be high demand for industrial lasers, in particular for those used in semiconductor manufacturing, where a combination of high market growth and our new products winning market share has led to substantial growth. Hi-reliability fibre coupler demand remains robust for undersea cables and increasingly for constellation space satellites. Medical lasers continue to benefit from the return of elective surgery and demand for our medical diagnostics products remains high. 

As at 31 January 2022, our order book stood at a record £110.5 million (31 January 2021: £95.0 million), an increase of 16.3% compared with the same time last year.

Pandemic- related factors have restrained trade during the period, these include recruitment, self isolation and supply chain challenges. Mitigating actions are in place. As a result, we expect trading to have a slightly higher second half weighting than anticipated, but the full year outcome to remain unchanged.

G&H has continued to invest in our increasingly productive R&D group during the period. We have focused on delivering further innovation through collaborations with the leading companies in their sector.

The Company remains in a strong financial position with a robust balance sheet and low levels of net debt.

G&H remains committed to the long term goals of further diversification into A&D and life sciences and moving up the value chain. We intend to vigorously pursue these policies through internal investment and where appropriate, acquisitions.

Mark Webster, Chief Executive Officer of Gooch & Housego, commented:

"During the first four months of the financial year we have seen strong and improving levels of overall demand and a record order book across all our principal areas of business. Trading during this period has been constrained by pandemic related factors in some parts of our business, but our outlook for the full year is unchanged.

"Fundamental demand for our photonic technologies and system capabilities is strong and improving and we remain confident in the short and long term growth potential for G&H in our target sectors."

A slide deck to accompany the AGM can be viewed at the investor section of the Company's website, https://gandh.com/investors/

For further information contact: -
Mark Webster/Chris Jewell	Gooch & Housego PLC	01460 256440
Mark Court/Sophie Wills	Buchanan	020 7466 5000
Chris Baird/ David Anderson	Investec Bank plc	020 7597 5970

Notes to editors

1.  Gooch & Housego is a photonics technology business headquartered in Ilminster, Somerset, UK with operations in the USA, Europe and China. A world leader in its field, the company researches, designs, engineers and manufactures advanced photonic systems, components and instrumentation for applications in the Aerospace & Defence, Industrial, Life Sciences and Scientific Research sectors. World leading design, development and manufacturing expertise is offered across a broad range of complementary technologies.

2.  All financial information included in this announcement is sourced from unaudited management accounts and excludes any specific items. This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements that are based on management's current expectations or beliefs as well as assumptions about future events.  These are subject to risk factors associated with, amongst other things, the economic and business circumstances occurring from time to time in the countries and sectors in which G&H operates.  It is believed that the expectations reflected in these statements are reasonable but they may be affected by a wide range of variables which could cause actual results, and G&H's plans and objectives, to differ materially from those currently anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.  Investors should not place undue reliance on any such statements. Nothing in this announcement should be construed as a profit forecast.

 

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