7th Jan 2008 07:00
Ricardo PLC07 January 2008 Ricardo plc 7 January 2007 Trading Update Ricardo plc is the leading UK independent automotive consultancy, employing over1,800 people. The company has centres in the UK, USA, Germany, Czech RepublicIndia, Japan and China and the client list includes the world's major automotiveOEMs, energy companies, governments and industrial Tier 1's. The Board of Ricardo plc is today providing a trading update in respect of thefive month period to the end of November 2007. Ricardo plc will announce itsInterim Results on 27 February 2008. We are pleased with the trading performance for the period. Withinour Technical Consulting division, the UK has performed well with solid growthdriven from work won in Asia. Recruitment of skilled engineers in Germanycontinues to be a challenge to serve the increasing demand from the Germanclient base. Following the successful change of leadership in the US asubsequent restructuring programme to reduce the business cost base has beenimplemented with the resulting costs being offset with improved tradingperformance. The Strategic Consulting Division continues to perform to plan andbroaden its sector and client base. Order intake levels have remained strong, continuing to benefit from our widerglobal customer base and as outlined in our earlier IMS, this has led to anincrease in both revenue and profit. Robust management of working capital isexpected to lead to only a modest increase to the closing net debt balance atthe half year, from the closing position at June 2007. The combination of our performance to date, together with the strong order bookand pipeline, provides continued confidence in our prospects for the full year. Further enquiries: Ricardo plcDave Shemmans, Chief Executive Tel: 01273 455611Paula Bell, Group Finance DirectorWebsite: www.ricardo.com Gavin Anderson & CompanyFergus Wylie Tel: 020 7554 1400Charlotte StoneMichael Turner This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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