2nd May 2008 12:00
Rotork PLC02 May 2008 2 May 2008 Rotork p.l.c. Interim Management Statement Rotork p.l.c., the specialist engineer, provides an Interim ManagementStatement, as required by the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and TransparencyRules, for the three month period to 31 March 2008. Order intake has continued the strong trend which was referred to at the time ofthe preliminary results, being 25% higher in the first quarter than the sameperiod of 2007. On a like for like basis excluding the Remote Control Sweden(RCS) acquisition order intake was up 19%. Increased demand for Rotork'sproducts was spread across our geographic regions, end user industries andbusiness divisions. Cost pressures continue to be mitigated by sourcing andengineering cost reduction initiatives. The order book at the end of Marchreached £125m, which is 28% up on the position as at 31st December 2007 or,adjusting for the RCS order book on acquisition it increased by 24%. The RCS integration process is proceeding well and order intake in this businessis ahead of our expectations for the first quarter. The Singapore business ofRCS has already been incorporated into the local Rotork subsidiary and we areconfident that the USA and German offices will complete their integration plansby the half year. The initial indication is that the RCS product has been wellreceived by the Rotork sales channels and we are anticipating a positivecontribution from this business in the current year. The strengthening of our two major trading currencies, the Euro and the USDollar, against Sterling, is continuing to be of benefit. While the dollar hastraded within a fairly tight band against Sterling, the Euro has gained over 15%against the average rates prevailing last year. Revenue denominated in Eurosrepresents around 30% of the total and this could potentially representsignificant upside opportunity to us in the current year. The group continues tomaintain a sound balance sheet. Other than the acquisition mentioned above, there have been no other materialevents or transactions affecting the Group in the period. We anticipate goodlevels of growth for both the half and full year. For further information, please contact: R.E. Slater Group Finance Director Tel: 01225 733224Jon Simmons / Sophie Kernon Financial Dynamics Tel: 020 7831 3113 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Rotork