Group Trading Update & Notice of Half-year Results

FLOWTECH FLUIDPOWER PLC

(the "Group")

Group Trading Update and Notice of Half-year Results

London: Tuesday, 3 August 2021 : AIM listed specialist technical fluid power products supplier Flowtech Fluidpower plc (LSE: symbol FLO), announces the following unaudited trading update on its performance for the six-month financial reporting period ended 30 June 2021.

"We continue to make good progress with all aspects of the implementation of our long-term strategy and remain focussed on addressing the short-term challenges presented by supply chain issues and inflationary pressures."

GROUP Trading Update AND FINANCIALS

Our Revenue streams have increased significantly although have yet to fully recover to pre COVID-19 levels.  We have implemented price increases across our businesses to reflect both uplifts levied by certain of our suppliers and higher carriage costs following Brexit.  We have also invested in the plans underway to bring our Flowtech business to market under one brand; our e-business/digital agenda as well as a refreshed focus on improving the efficiency of our logistic centres and supply chain management operations.  

The above factors combine to a position where at half-year end our profitability is slightly in excess of our expectations.

*Excludes IFRS16 related debt but including c.£0.8m (HY 2020:£1.6m) of deferred VAT linked to Government COVID-19 related support schemes.

In our 2020 annual report we highlighted the transition to reporting our results on a three-segment basis.  Essentially, we have split the Components segment into two, "Flowtech" which captures our business with distributors and end-users and "Solutions" which is more concentrated on OEM markets.  We have included comparatives for 2019 which are clearly more meaningful than a 2020 period which contains a significant COVID-19 impacted period.

NET DEBT/BANKING FACILITIES

We continue to focus on all areas of working capital management to ensure our cash position remains well controlled. Net debt at 30 June 2021 was £13.3m, representing a £1.7m increase from the position at 31 December 2020; this is in line with our expectations and previous messaging and is driven by the impact of increased revenue on our working capital position.

SUMMARY & OUTLOOK

Current trading remains encouraging; however, it is difficult to assess both the likely short-term demand from our customers and any ongoing and widely experienced disruption in our supply chain.  We will continue to invest in the key areas we have highlighted above.  Overall, we expect our FY2021 result to be in line with market expectations.

NOTICE OF RESULTS

The Group is planning to announce Half-year results for the period ended 30 June 2021 on Tuesday, 7 September 2021.  The Report will also be available to view and download from the Company's website www.flowtechfluidpower.com.