26th Jul 2007 07:01
QinetiQ Group plc26 July 2007 QinetiQ Group plc26 July 2007 Annual General Meeting and Interim Management Statement QinetiQ Group plc ('QinetiQ'), the international defence and security technologycompany, is today issuing the following Interim Management Statement, asrequired by the UKLA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules, which covers theperiod from 1 April 2007 to 25 July 2007. This coincides with its Annual GeneralMeeting which is taking place at 2.00pm today, 26 July 2007, in London. At themeeting the Chairman of QinetiQ, Sir John Chisholm, will make the followingstatement: Trading and financial positionThe current year has started well with first quarter results in line with theBoard's expectations. The trading outlook remains in line with that described inthe Group's 2007 Report and Accounts published in June. The EMEA (Europe MiddleEast and Australia) sector is well positioned to exploit its core UK defencetechnology platform while the growth opportunities remain strong for QinetiQNorth America, mitigating the adverse translation impact of the continuingweakness in the US dollar. Order levels across the business remain robust. Notable wins in EMEA include thesale of the Quadrant ADS-B (Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast) airtraffic surveillance ground station to General Civil Aviation Authority of theUnited Arab Emirates and a £5.5m contract from the UK MOD to use the Tornado F3as the alternative test platform to the Typhoon to support trials for the BeyondVisual Range Air to Air Missile (BVRAAM - Meteor). Negotiations with the MOD onPackage 1 of the Defence Training Rationalisation Programme have made goodprogress and the target remains to agree the final scope in 2007, with financialclose expected 12 to 18 months thereafter, while discussions continue with theMOD over the affordability of Package 2. QinetiQ North America has seen continued strong order levels across all parts ofthe business, with multiple contract awards from the Department of HomelandSecurity for our IT Services business particularly notable. Significantadditional orders for TALON robots have been secured, the largest of which is an$86.1m extension to the existing Naval Air Warfare Training Systems Divisionorder bringing the revised order value to $150m. The balance sheet remains strong and there have been no significant changes inthe financial position of the Group since the publication of the its 2007 Reportand Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2007 other than in respect of theacquisitions completed since the year-end and the creation of the Venture fundas noted below. As previously reported, the £20m temporary increase in MODrelated working capital has reversed in the first quarter. AcquisitionsThe Group has successfully completed four acquisitions this financial year; - ITS Corporation, an IT services company, completed in April 2007 foran initial consideration of £40.8m;- Two robotics technology companies, Applied Perception Inc. andAutomatika Inc. were acquired in May 2007 for consideration of £3.1m each;- 3H Technology Corporation, an IT services company, completed in June2007 for consideration of £25.2m. Integration of our North American acquisitions is progressing well and wecontinue to see a healthy pipeline of acquisition opportunities in North Americaand in other geographies. Venture fundOn 27 June 2007 the Group announced the creation of a new technology venturefund (QinetiQ Ventures LP) to accelerate the development and realisation ofseven of its more mature venture investments. The fund has been launched byQinetiQ and Coller Capital, a leading global investor in corporate ventureassets, and will be structured as a Limited Partnership ("LP") managed by anindependent investment manager. We have transferred into the fund assets valuedat £40m. QinetiQ and Coller Capital will each contribute up to £20m of follow-onfunding to accelerate development of the fund's portfolio companies. Dependingon the performance of the fund, QinetiQ will own up to 75 per cent of futureeconomic value. This transaction is expected to complete shortly.OutlookWe remain optimistic about the outlook for the current year as a whole which continues to progress in line with our earlier expectations and the Groupremains well positioned to realise the growing potential of its markets. Notes to Editors About QinetiQ:QinetiQ (pronounced ki net ik as in 'kinetic energy') is a leading internationaldefence and security technology business that was formed in July 2001 from theUK Government's Defence Evaluation & Research Agency (DERA). QinetiQ has approximately 13,500 employees, who deliver technology-based services andexploit QinetiQ's strengths in technology research by selling systems solutions,products and licences to government and commercial customers in a spectrum of defence, security and related commercial markets. In February 2006, QinetiQ Group plc was listed on the London Stock Exchange(main market) and joined the FTSE250 in June 2006. In the year to 31 March 2007,QinetiQ delivered a 17.4 per cent rise in underlying operating profit before tax to £106.0m on turnover which rose by 9.3 per cent to £1,149.5m. For further information see www.QinetiQ.com Contacts:QinetiQ Media Relations: Nicky Louth-Davies +44 (0)7795 290593QinetiQ Investor Relations: Adrian Colman +44 (0)7740 432699 DisclaimerAll statements other than statements of historical fact included in thisdocument, including, without limitation, those regarding the financialcondition, results, operations and businesses of QinetiQ and its strategy, plansand objectives and the markets and economies in which it operates, areforward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements, which reflectmanagement's assumptions made on the basis of information available to it atthis time, involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other importantfactors which could cause the actual results, performance or achievements ofQinetiQ or the markets and economies in which QinetiQ operates to be materiallydifferent from future results, performance or achievements expressed or impliedby such forward-looking statements. Nothing in this document should be regardedas a profit forecast. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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