Latest News
10 January 2007
Trading Update
At the Annual General Meeting to be held today of Diploma PLC, the Chairman will report that the Group has made a good start to the new financial year and is trading ahead of the comparable period last year. This is despite the adverse impact on the Group's operating profits from the weakness in the US$ and CAN$, relative to Sterling.
The Life Sciences businesses are showing continued growth both in Europe and in Canada. The Seals businesses are predominantly driven by the North American industrial economies and in particular heavy construction, where growth is continuing but at modest rates. The European Defence, Aerospace and Motorsport markets, in which the Group's Controls businesses operate, continue to be buoyant.
The Directors remain confident that the strategy of investing for organic growth and in high quality acquisitions will continue to deliver good value to shareholders.
For further enquiries please contact:
| Bruce Thompson, Chief Executive Officer | 020 7638 0934 |
| Nigel Lingwood, Group Finance Director | 020 7448 4875 |
| Ian Seaton, Bankside Consultants | 020 7367 8891 |
NOTE TO EDITORS:
Diploma PLC is an international group of specialised distribution businesses operating in three sectors:
Life Sciences - suppliers of consumables, instrumentation and related services to research, environmental and clinical diagnostic laboratories. Principal companies are Anachem, a1-envirosciences and CBISS in Europe and Somagen in Canada.
Seals - Suppliers of hydraulic seals, gaskets, cylinders and attachment kits for heavy mobile machinery. Principal companies are Hercules Bulldog Sealing Products and HKX in North America and FPE in the UK.
Controls - Suppliers of specialised wiring, connectors, control devices and fasteners for a range of technically demanding applications. Principal companies are IS Group in the UK and US, Sommer Filcon in Germany and Hawco in the UK.
Within each of these sectors, the Diploma businesses serve industry segments with long term growth potential and with the opportunity for sustainable superior margins through the quality of customer service, depth of technical support and value adding activities.