29th Jun 2005 07:00
Spirent PLC29 June 2005 SPIRENT PLC Restructuring of Service Assurance division London, UK - 29 June 2005: Spirent plc (LSE: SPT; NYSE: SPM), a leadingcommunications technology company, today announces a further restructuringwithin the Service Assurance division. The restructuring will realign resourcesand further reduce operating costs while the business continues to betransitioned towards IP service assurance. It will also allow support forexisting leased line monitoring customers to be provided on a more efficientbasis. The strategy for this division is to deliver service assurance solutionsfor IP business services and residential triple play offerings, including voice,video and data, as well as DSL and field test solutions. As part of the restructuring, headcount in the division is being reduced by 180,representing 30 per cent of the workforce. The restructuring is expected toresult in annualised cost savings of approximately £8 million, of which £3 million will benefit the second half of this financial year. The restructuring will give rise to a one time charge of approximately £2 million, of which an estimated £1.3 million will be in cash, in the first half of 2005. This is in addition to the approximately £3 million charge announced in our trading update of 21 April 2005. As previously announced, the Service Assurance division is expected to report an operating loss, before the one time charges, in the region of £10 million in the first half of 2005 under International Financial Reporting Standards. The costs associated with the initiative to rationalise the supply chainactivities across Spirent Communications have now been quantified. It isexpected that the actions will result in a one time charge in the second half ofthe year of approximately £3 million, of which £1 million will be in cash. Anders Gustafsson, Chief Executive, said: "We have taken further actions in the Service Assurance division to realign thecost base while we continue to transition the business towards IP serviceassurance. We believe that the advanced voice, video and data services that arebeing rolled out by service providers worldwide will require sophisticatedmonitoring to ensure the high quality, reliable services their customers havecome to expect. Our solutions address the challenges of delivering theseadvanced services." Note The above disclosures are unaudited and are reported on the basis ofInternational Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Business segments reported under IFRS are the same as those reported under UKGAAP however the operating profit or loss is affected by the stricterdefinitions under IFRS regarding allocation of central costs. Those sharedcosts, which cannot be directly attributed to individual segments, will now bereported separately as corporate and other costs. Where appropriate comparativenumbers have been restated to reflect this change. - ends - Enquiries Anders Gustafsson, Chief Executive Spirent plc +44 (0)1293 767676Eric Hutchinson, Finance Director Investor Relations Catherine Nash Spirent plc +44 (0)1293 767676 Media Tom Buchanan/Rupert Young Brunswick +44 (0)20 7404 5959 About Spirent Spirent is a leading communications technology company focused on deliveringinnovative systems and services to meet the needs of customers worldwide. We area global provider of performance analysis and service assurance solutions thatenable the development and deployment of next-generation networking technologiessuch as broadband services, Internet telephony, 3G wireless and web applicationsand security testing. Our Network Products business is a developer andmanufacturer of innovative solutions for fastening, identification, protectionand connectivity in electrical and communications networks marketed under theglobal brand HellermannTyton. The Systems group comprises PG Drives Technologywhich develops power control systems for specialist electrical vehicles in themobility and industrial markets. Further information about Spirent plc can befound at www.spirent.com Spirent Ordinary shares are traded on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: SPT)and on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker: SPM; CUSIP number: 84856M209) in theform of American Depositary Shares (ADS), represented by American DepositaryReceipts, with one ADS representing four Ordinary shares. Spirent and the Spirent logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Spirentplc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks mentioned herein are held bytheir respective companies. All rights reserved. This press release may contain forward-looking statements (as that term isdefined in the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995)based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as assumptions about futureevents. You can sometimes, but not always, identify these statements by the useof a date in the future or such words as "will", "anticipate", "estimate","expect", "project", "intend", "plan", "should", "may", "assume" and othersimilar words. By their nature, forward-looking statements are inherentlypredictive and speculative and involve risk and uncertainty because they relateto events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. You shouldnot place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which are not aguarantee of future performance and are subject to factors that could cause ouractual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by thesestatements. Such factors include, but are not limited to: the extent to whichcustomers continue to invest in next-generation technology and deploy advancedIP-based services; our ability to successfully expand our customer base; ourability to continue to benefit from generally improving market conditions; theprevailing market conditions and pace of economic recovery; our ability toimprove efficiency and adapt to economic changes and other changes in demand ormarket conditions; our ability to develop and commercialise new products andservices, extend our existing capabilities in IP services and expand our productoffering internationally; our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel;the effects of competition on our business; fluctuations in exchange rates andheavy exposure to a weak US dollar; changes in the business, financial conditionor prospects of one or more of our major customers; risks of doing businessinternationally; the financial burden of our pension fund deficit; risksrelating to the acquisition or sale of businesses and our subsequent ability tointegrate businesses; our reliance on proprietary technology; our exposure toliabilities for product defects; our reliance on third party manufacturers andsuppliers; and other risks described from time to time in Spirent plc'sSecurities and Exchange Commission periodic reports and filings. The Companyundertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained inthis press release, whether as a result of new information, future events orotherwise. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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