29th Jun 2007 07:02
IMI PLC29 June 2007 29 June 2007 IMI plc Trading Update In accordance with its normal practice, IMI plc is today issuing a tradingupdate in advance of its interim results announcement for the six monthsending 30 June 2007, due to be published on 3 September 2007. Organic sales growth in the first half, on a constant currency basis, isexpected to be about 7%. In Severe Service, order intake for new valves remains strong both in powergeneration and the oil and gas segments. There has been some catch up in theshipment schedules against order book growth which has helped to rebalance someof the seasonality in our shipments profile. Organic sales growth in the firsthalf should be in excess of 20%. In Fluid Power, European end markets continue to show good momentum. The NorthAmerican truck market is, as expected, sharply down, but the European truckmarket is strong and has helped offset some of this decline. Excluding NorthAmerican truck, our other sector businesses within Fluid Power continue to growat about 15%. Overall, organic sales growth in Fluid Power in the first half isforecast to be around 2%. Indoor Climate has continued to perform strongly in its core European markets.Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific and the US have all shown good momentum. First halfsales are expected to reflect organic growth of around 10%. In Beverage Dispense, the European and Asia Pacific markets have performed well.Although the US market remains patchy, we have seen some improvement inshipments to the quick service restaurant sector. Progress in 3Wire, our partsmanagement business in the US, continues to be encouraging. Beverage Dispenseorganic sales growth is forecast to be about 5% in the first half. In Merchandising Systems, the cosmetics sector is performing well, while theautomotive sector remains relatively subdued. Organic sales are forecast to beslightly ahead for the first half and we enter the second half with a strongerorder book. Our restructuring programme announced in March last year is continuing on track.The transfer of certain manufacturing facilities from the US and Western Europeto Mexico and the Czech Republic is making good progress. Restructuring costsfor the first half are in line with plan and expected to be about £11m, comparedto £7.7m in the first half of 2006. We continue to face metal and material cost headwinds which are being addressedthrough our restructuring and procurement programmes. The recent flooding inYorkshire, UK resulted in severe damage and disruption to one of our facilities.The self-insured costs have been estimated at £2m in arriving at the guidancebelow. We expect a first half profit of £90-£93m before tax, restructuring costs andintangible amortisation which, at the mid point, represents an increase on aconstant currency basis of around 9% over last year. In arriving at thisguidance, the impact of changes in the fair value of financial instruments(IAS39) is estimated to be a credit of £1m. The comparable result for 2006 was£88.1m (after an IAS39 credit of £0.9m). - Ends - IMI plc Graham Truscott, Communications Director Tel: 0121 717 3712 Weber Shandwick Financial Nick Oborne/Stephanie Badjonat/Charlie Hooper Tel: 020 7067 0700 Notes to editors IMI is a dynamic, worldwide company delivering innovative engineering solutionsto leading global customers in clearly defined niche markets. Its fivebusinesses share a common goal - to convert their industry knowledge and marketinsight into customised, design-engineered solutions which create customeradvantage and value. These include severe service valves, motion and fluidcontrol systems, indoor climate controls, beverage dispense systems, andmerchandising display systems for retail operations. Close customer relationships, strong positions in growing markets and cleardifferentiation through technological innovation or service are the definingcharacteristics of all IMI businesses. IMI is quoted on the London Stock Exchange. Information about IMI plc can befound on the website: www.imiplc.com. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
IMI