Gooch & Housego PLC Full Year Trading Update (1557B)
October 06 2020 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMGHH
RNS Number : 1557B
Gooch & Housego PLC
06 October 2020
For immediate release 6 October 2020
Gooch & Housego PLC
("G&H" or the "Company")
Full Year Trading Update
"Trading slightly ahead of expectations"
Gooch & Housego PLC (AIM: GHH), the specialist manufacturer
of photonic components & systems, announces that trading for
the year ended 30 September 2020 is expected to have ended slightly
ahead of management's previous expectations. The Company will
announce its results for the year ended 30 September 2020 on 1
December 2020.
Trading
Trading during the financial year ended 30 September reflected
previously reported trends.
The Group's manufacturing locations in the UK, USA and China are
now all fully open and trading levels in the latter part of the
financial year reflected the recovery in the Company's
manufacturing capacity and some of our larger customers'
manufacturing sites reopening.
G&H has entered its new financial year with a solid order
book. As at 30 September 2020 it stood at GBP92.4 million (30
September 2019: GBP94.4 million), 2.2% lower than same period
previous year, or an increase of 0.8%, excluding the impact of
foreign exchange.
Orders for fibre optics, hi- reliability fibre couplers for
undersea cables and our A&D and life science capabilities
remain robust. There continues to be improved demand for medical
diagnostics, in particular for ventilator systems. Industrial laser
demand remains at below 'normalised' levels, though the
semiconductor subsector has demonstrated sustained improvement.
Priorities in the COVID-19 emergency
Our primary concern during the emergency is the health and
safety of our staff, customers and suppliers. Extensive measures
have been put in place at all of our sites to ensure we rigorously
meet social distancing and cleanliness requirements and all other
relevant guidelines and regulations.
Financial strength
The Company remains in a good financial position with a strong
balance sheet and liquidity levels that have improved during the
period.
Outlook
There remains significant global economic uncertainty in the
short term due to the COVID-19 emergency, but our order book
remains robust. Our telecommunications, A&D and life science
businesses have held up well during the period, whilst industrial
laser recovery remains difficult to predict.
Improved industrial laser demand will be driven by technical
innovation such as 5G and new laser based manufacturing techniques.
There remains substantial long term growth potential for our
photonic technologies and system capabilities in all of our target
sectors.
The streamlining of our manufacturing sites is on schedule and
will deliver the profit improvements previously announced.
Mark Webster, Chief Executive Officer of Gooch and Housego,
commented:
"We continue to be very proud of the way that our staff and
management have responded to the COVID-19 emergency. All of our
sites in the UK, USA and China are open and fully compliant with
all relevant health and safety requirements.
"While there remains considerable short term economic
uncertainty our order book remains robust, the Company's balance
sheet has strengthened during the period and we have continued to
invest in our high priority R&D targets.
"The COVID-19 emergency has validated G&H's long term
strategy of diversification and moving up the value chain. We will
continue to pursue this policy through internal investment and
where appropriate, acquisitions."
For further information
contact: -
Gooch & Housego
Mark Webster/Chris Jewell PLC 01460 256440
Mark Court/ Charlotte Slater Buchanan 020 7466 5000
Chris Baird/Patrick Robb/
David Anderson Investec Bank plc 020 7597 5970
Notes to editors
1. Gooch & Housego is a photonics technology business
headquartered in Ilminster, Somerset, UK with operations in the USA
and Europe. A world leader in its field, the company researches,
designs, engineers and manufactures advanced photonic systems,
components and instrumentation for applications in the Aerospace
& Defence, Industrial, Life Sciences and Scientific Research
sectors. World leading design, development and manufacturing
expertise is offered across a broad range of complementary
technologies.
2. All financial information included in this announcement is
sourced from unaudited management accounts and excludes any
specific items. This announcement contains certain forward-looking
statements that are based on management's current expectations or
beliefs as well as assumptions about future events. These are
subject to risk factors associated with, amongst other things, the
economic and business circumstances occurring from time to time in
the countries and sectors in which G&H operates. It is believed
that the expectations reflected in these statements are reasonable
but they may be affected by a wide range of variables which could
cause actual results, and G&H's plans and objectives, to differ
materially from those currently anticipated or implied in the
forward-looking statements. Investors should not place undue
reliance on any such statements. Nothing in this announcement
should be construed as a profit forecast.
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