7th April 2015
Camellia Plc
(the "Company")
Closure of AKD Engineering Limited ("AKD Engineering")
The Company announces that its wholly owned subsidiary, AKD Engineering, has today announced its intention to close with effect from the end of June 2015. The decision to close the business has been made reluctantly following several years of substantial losses, which have been further compounded by the current downturn in the Oil and Gas sector.
AKD Engineering's loss before taxation for the year ended 31 December 2014 is expected to be approximately £7.7 million (2013 - loss of £5.5 million).
Camellia Plc 01622 746655
Malcolm Perkins, Chairman
Julia Morton, Company Secretary
Charles Stanley Securities (Nominated Adviser and Broker) 020 7149 6000
Russell Cook
Carl Holmes
Notes for editors
AKD Engineering is a wholly owned subsidiary of Camellia Plc and employs 113 staff at Horn Hill, Lowestoft. It has been in operation for 60 years, originally manufacturing diesel engines for the local ship building industry, before becoming an engineering services provider to the Oil and Gas industry.
Camellia Plc (CAM.L) is a global agriculture and horticulture group, whose activities also extend to engineering, food storage and distribution, banking and financial services. The Company employs approximately 75,000 people globally.
The agriculture and horticulture division is engaged in the production of tea, edible nuts (macadamias, pistachios and almonds), citrus fruits, avocado, rubber, forestry, viticulture, cattle, other horticultural produce and general farming (maize and soya). The Company is one of the largest private tea producers world-wide with a total of 65 tea estates and 60 tea factories. The Company's main operations are in India, Bangladesh, Malawi and Kenya, where the tea is grown and produced. It also has notable agricultural operations, other than tea, in Brazil, California, Kenya, South Africa and Malawi.
The engineering division is engaged in precision engineering, cutting and grinding, fabrication, heat treatment, galvanising, powder coating and manufacture of stables, etch inspection and catalysts. These businesses are predominately UK based and serve customers in a number of sectors including the offshore oil and gas and aerospace sectors.
The food storage and distribution division is involved in frozen, chilled and ambient temperature food supply chain management providing cold storage, refrigerated transport and production support to several leading UK food manufacturers. It also specialises in frozen imports and distributes seafood products in Europe and supplies food service customers in the Netherlands with fish products.
The banking and financial services division comprises Duncan Lawrie, which provides an integrated suite of banking services, financial planning, investment management and trust and estate advice.
