Trading Statement

RNS Number : 5075K

Judges Scientific PLC

18 July 2011

 

Judges Scientific plc

Trading Statement

18 July 2011

Judges Scientific plc ('Judges Scientific', the 'Company' or the 'Group')

Trading Update

The Directors of Judges Scientific, the parent company of a group that specialises in the design, manufacture and sale of scientific instruments, are pleased to update shareholders and the market with regard to the Group's trading performance during the first half of the current financial year.

The Group continued to trade strongly during the period to 30 June 2011 and the interim results are expected to show solid organic growth of 13% in revenues. This increases to 27% when account is taken of businesses purchased since 1 January 2010, including a full six months of turnover from Sircal and a first time contribution from Deben, in which a 51% interest was acquired on 18 March 2011. The Board anticipates that interim profits and earnings per share before exceptional items will be consistent at this stage with market expectations for the full year.

Order intake during the six-month period showed organic growth of 2.3%, albeit somewhat unevenly across the Group. The order book at 30 June 2011 represented two and a half months of sales, similar to the level at the beginning of the year.

The Board is proud that UHV Design recently received the Queen's Award for Enterprise in recognition of the company's strong export achievements in recent years. This represents a well-deserved tribute to the team's hard work and to their competence at all levels. The Group has purchased a plot of land with planning permission, adjacent to UHV Design's existing factory, which will allow for further expansion of the company's operations.

The balance sheet will show healthy cash surpluses at 30 June 2011. Even after adjusting for acquisition consideration which had yet to be paid at that date, cash balances are expected to be in excess of the year-end level, despite the investments in Deben and the aforementioned property.

The global economic climate remains unreliable with public spending under pressure in the developed world and uncertainty in the foreign exchange markets. Nevertheless, your Board believes that the Group is well equipped to face these challenges with its broadly based portfolio of resilient businesses.

Enquiries:

Judges Scientific plc

David Cicurel, CEO

01342 323 600

Shore Capital

Pascal Keane/Edward Mansfield

020 7408 4090

Cardew Group

Melvyn Marckus

07775 896491

 

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