7 January 2016
Somero Enterprises, Inc.
("Somero" or the "Company")
Trading update
Somero is pleased to provide the following update on trading for the financial year ended 31 December 2015.
In the six months since 30 June 2015, the Company performed strongly, particularly in the final quarter with monthly sales at an all-time high in December, which is not traditionally the strongest month of the year. As a result, the Board is pleased to announce that the Company now expects to report Revenue ahead of current market expectations for the full year. Furthermore, as a result of an improved gross margin performance, the Company now expects to report EBITDA materially ahead of current market expectations for the period.
Demand in the second half of 2015 has remained robust across our core product range with North America and Europe contributing significantly to sales growth while performance in China was healthy and remained stable. The particularly strong finish to the year in Europe and full year performance in the Middle East notably exceeded the Board's prior expectations.
The year-end demand for the Company's products in North America was predominantly driven by technology upgrades and fleet additions, highlighting lengthy project backlogs for our customers that extend well into 2016.
On a product basis, while large line machine sales continue to represent the majority of our volume, small-line revenues, including the S-485 introduced at the end of 2014, were key contributors to growth.
While it is too early to provide detailed guidance for 2016, the Board is confident that it will deliver another year of growth and that the high-level of activity in December will continue into 2016 providing a solid start to the year.
Somero's final results for the year ending 31 December 2015 will be announced on 1 March 2016.
For further information, please contact:
Somero Enterprises, Inc. www.somero.com
Jack Cooney, CEO +1 239 210 6500
John Yuncza, CFO
Howard Hohmann, EVP Sales
Canaccord Genuity Ltd (NOMAD and Joint Broker)
Bruce Garrow +44 (0)20 7523 8000
Piers Coombs
Mark Whitmore
finnCap Ltd (Joint Broker)
Matt Goode +44 (0)20 7220 0500
Carl Holmes
Tim Redfern
Redleaf Communications Ltd (Financial PR Advisor) somero@redleafpr.com
Rebecca Sanders-Hewett +44 (0)20 7382 4730
David Ison
Susie Hudson