Opening of manufacturing plant in Vietnam

9 January 2014

Laird PLC

Laird to set up a manufacturing plant in Vietnam and expand its Design Centre in South Korea

Laird PLC today announces it has committed to expanding its Asian presence through the establishment of a new manufacturing facility in Vietnam and the expansion of a Design Centre in Seoul, South Korea, broadening its geographic market presence and overall customer diversity.

The manufacturing facility near Hanoi will principally manufacture EMI products for the global smartphone and portable electronic device market. The factory will be equipped over the next quarter, with production starting early in the second quarter of 2014. The design teams in Seoul will work with the Hanoi facility as well as with our existing site in Shenzhen, China.

The overall cost of investment will be approximately $7 million US Dollars in 2014 with a further $3-5 million US Dollars in 2015. This investment will help underpin our growth prospects for 2014.

David Lockwood, Chief Executive, commented:

"This is an important development for Laird as it expands our design and manufacturing capabilities for our Asian customers. As we said a year ago, we would not only diversify our customer base, but focus on those customers and markets which exhibit good growth characteristics.

Our operational structure allows us to flex resources whilst continuing to invest for future growth and our differentiation of innovation, reliable fulfilment and speed is enabling us to expand into new territories and become a strategic partner with key industry leaders."

An update on strategic progress will be made on 28 January 2014.