Latest News
25 September 2007
Trading Update
Diploma PLC, the specialised international distribution group, is today giving a trading update, ahead of entering into close period for the Company’s results for the year ending 30 September 2007.
The Group expects to report results for the full year ending 30 September 2007 which will both demonstrate further progress and be slightly ahead of market expectations.
The Life Science businesses have continued to experience modest underlying growth with the contribution from CBISS, acquired in October last year, more than off-setting the negative impact on translation of the weaker Canadian dollar. The Seals businesses, predominantly based in North America, have traded strongly in the second half of the year and will show good underlying growth for the full year. However, the negative impact on translation of a weak US$ will hold performance in sterling terms at similar levels to last year. The Controls businesses continued to trade well in the second half of the year and will show strong growth for the full year.
The three acquisitions completed in August of this year fit well with the strategy of building more substantial, broader-based businesses in our three core sectors and are expected to make a strong contribution to the Group’s results in 2008.
It is expected that the Preliminary Results for the year ended 30 September 2007 will be announced on Monday, 26 November 2007. There will be an analyst presentation of the results at the offices of Bankside Consultants Limited, 1 Frederick’s Place, London, EC2R 8AE, at 9.00 am on that day.
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 and M Seals in Europe.
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.
In August 2007 Diploma PLC completed three acquisitions, which are all complementary with the existing businesses, for a maximum aggregate consideration of £27.2m. These acquisitions comprised AMT Vantage Holdings, a leading distributor of speciality electrosurgery and endoscopy equipment and related consumables operating in Canada; Cabletec, a supplier of wiring and connector products to the aerospace, defence and commercial electronic industries; and M Seals A/S, a distributor of industrial seals based in Denmark.