FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 14 NOVEMBER 2017
CHEMRING GROUP PLC
POST-CLOSE STATEMENT
Chemring Group PLC ("Chemring" or "the Group") today provides its post-close statement in respect of the year ended 31 October 2017.
FY17 trading
The Group's trading performance for the year to 31 October 2017 ("FY17") is expected to be slightly ahead of the Board's expectations.
Strong delivery performance in the final quarter of FY17 has led to full year revenue of £547m, an increase of 15% on the prior year (2016: £477m).
The Group's order book at 31 October 2017 was £478m (2016: £593m). The decline in the order book principally reflects the conclusion of the 40mm ammunition contract to a customer in the Middle East, awarded in 2016, as well as a currency headwind of £33m experienced this year. A number of significant orders were received by both our US and UK Countermeasures businesses in the second half of the year, giving increased confidence in the Group's prospects in the near term.
Financial position
At 31 October 2017, net debt was £80.0m (2016: £87.6m).
Of the Group's £114.3m outstanding US private placement loan notes, £51.3m was repaid yesterday, 13 November 2017, from existing bank debt facilities and cash resources. The remaining loan notes are scheduled to be repaid in November 2019 (£63.0m).
The Group's FY17 results are scheduled to be announced on 18 January 2018.
-ENDS-
For further information:
Rupert Pittman Group Director of Corporate Affairs, 01794 833901
Chemring Group PLC
Andrew Jaques MHP Communications 020 3128 8100
James White
Notes to editors
· Chemring is a global business that specialises in the manufacture of high technology products and the provision of services to the aerospace, defence and security markets
· Employing approximately 2,500 people worldwide, and with production facilities in four countries, Chemring meets the needs of customers in more than fifty countries
· Chemring is organised under three strategic product segments: Countermeasures, Sensors, and Energetics
· Chemring has a diverse portfolio of products that deliver high reliability solutions to protect people, platforms, missions and information against constantly changing threats
· Operating in niche markets and with strong investment in research and development ("R&D"), Chemring has the agility to rapidly react to urgent customer needs
www.chemring.co.uk
Cautionary statements
This announcement contains unaudited information based on management accounts and forward-looking statements that are based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as assumptions about future events. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate only to historical or current facts. Forward-looking statements often use words such as anticipate, target, expect, estimate, intend, plan, goal, believe, will, may, should, would, could, is confident, or other words of similar meaning. Undue reliance should not be placed on any such statements because they speak only as at the date of this document and, by their very nature, they are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties and can be affected by other factors that could cause actual results, and Chemring's plans and objectives, to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.
There are a number of factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward-looking statements. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements are; increased competition, the loss of or damage to one or more key customer relationships, changes to customer ordering patterns, delays in obtaining customer approvals for engineering or price level changes, the failure of one or more key suppliers, the outcome of business or industry restructuring, the outcome of any litigation, changes in economic conditions, currency fluctuations, changes in interest and tax rates, changes in raw material or energy market prices, changes in laws, regulations or regulatory policies, developments in legal or public policy doctrines, technological developments, the failure to retain key management, or the key timing and success of future acquisition opportunities or major investment projects.
Chemring undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement contained within this announcement, regardless of whether those statements are affected as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, save as required by law and regulations.
No statement in this announcement is intended as a profit forecast for FY17 and no statement in this announcement should be interpreted to mean that underlying operating profit for the current or future financial years would necessarily be above a minimum level, or match or exceed the historical published underlying operating profit or set a minimum level of underlying operating profit.
