Plastics Capital plc
(The "Company" or the "Group")
Trading Update
Plastics Capital plc (AIM: PLA), the niche plastics products group, is pleased to provide an update on trading for the first six months of the financial year and confirm that the Company continues to trade in line with market expectations.
New business wins continue with encouraging news of two further new project successes for BNL in China, one in the automotive sector and the other with SSK in poultry processing. The pipeline of potential new business remains strong and the Company hopes to achieve further notable successes over the next six months.
The Company's 40% minority interest in a San Marino based supplier/distributor owned by one of the Group's subsidiaries, C&T Matrix ("C&T"), has been sold for approximately £400,000, realising an exceptional gain. This interest was part of C&T when 100% of its share capital was acquired by the Company in 2007 and was not considered a core part of C&T's network.
Trading conditions over the summer months have been slightly slower in comparison to the same period in the prior year due to various factors including the tsunami's impact on our Japanese customers this year and heavy restocking in 2010, which has not been repeated in 2011. However, order books have improved during the first half of September and are now back in-line with management expectations, with new business won last year starting to have an impact on results in the second half as new product introductions ramp up.
Commenting, Faisal Rahmatallah, Executive Chairman, said:
"We have continued to invest for growth despite the economic uncertainty, as we continue to see excellent opportunities for our products in a wide variety of international markets. In the absence of another serious macroeconomic shock, I expect the Group to continue to make good progress over the course of the financial year and to meet market expectations."
Plastics Capital plc Tel: 020 7326 8423
Faisal Rahmatallah, Executive Chairman
Nick Ball, Finance Director
Cenkos Securities Tel: 020 7397 8900
Stephen Keys
Liz Bowman
Walbrook PR Ltd Tel: 020 7933 8780
Paul Cornelius Mob: 07866 384 707 or paul.cornelius@walbrookir.com
Helen Westaway Mob: 07841 917 679 or helen.westaway@walbrookpr.com
Notes to Editor
Plastics Capital is a consolidator of plastics products manufacturers focused on proprietary products for niche markets. The Group has four factories in the UK, one in Thailand and sales offices in the USA, Japan, China and India. Approximately 62 per cent of sales are exported to over 70 countries worldwide. Production is concentrated in the UK where significant engineering know-how and automation underpins the Group's competitiveness. The Group has approximately 300 employees.
Further information can be found on www.plasticscapital.com