TIDMGHH
RNS Number : 1020Q
Gooch & Housego PLC
24 February 2021
For immediate release 24 February 2021
Gooch & Housego PLC
("G&H" or the "Company")
AGM Trading Update
"Improved levels of industrial laser demand and further
streamlining of manufacturing"
Gooch & Housego PLC (AIM: GHH), the specialist manufacturer
of photonic components & systems, will hold its Annual General
Meeting at 11.00am today at the Company's headquarters in
Ilminster, Somerset. As previously disclosed, owing to COVID-19
guidelines the AGM will run as a closed meeting and shareholders
will not be permitted to attend in person.
Current trading and outlook
During the first four months of the financial year we have seen
improved levels of demand across the industrial laser sector. In
line with previously reported trends there have been continuing
high levels of demand for fibre optics, hi- reliability fibre
couplers and our A&D capabilities. Life sciences has continued
to grow strongly.
Asian markets have led the recovery in industrial lasers, though
US and European markets are also now demonstrating encouraging
trends. The roll out of new technologies, such as 5G, has fuelled
demand led growth, building on the previously reported recovery in
semiconductors.
Our A&D order book remains robust with new UK optical system
orders, which have built on our existing US A&D contracts.
Medical diagnostics has continued to demonstrate good growth and
we are now seeing improved levels of demand for our medical laser
products, which were affected by the reduction in non- COVID-19
procedures in FY2020.
All of our manufacturing sites remain fully open. We have
established effective working practices which prioritise the health
and safety of our staff, customers and suppliers. Nevertheless
travel restrictions and the need for some of our employees to
self-isolate has presented some operational challenges.
The Group's cash generation has remained robust and the net debt
of the Group has further reduced during the first four months of
the financial year, despite the payment of the final earn out
associated with the acquisition of the ITL business.
As at 31 January 2021 our order book was at GBP95.0 million (31
January 2020: GBP94.1 million), an increase of 1.0%, or 3.3% at
constant currency, compared with the same time last year.
Streamlining of our manufacturing
As part of the Company's ongoing performance improvement
programme we are making good progress streamlining our
manufacturing sites. All of the product lines at our Glenrothes,
Scotland facility have been transferred to our new UK Precision
Optics( PO) hub in Ilminster and the Glenrothes site has been
closed. Outsourcing of the Acousto Optic (AO) products from
Ilminster to our contract manufacturer in Asia is progressing well
and we expect this to be substantially complete by the end of the
current financial year. The costs and full year benefits of the
above mentioned moves are predicted to be in line with previous
communications.
We launched a further two streamlining projects. Production at
our Baltimore, MD facility will be transferred to our Boston, MA
and Torquay, Devon facilities and our site in Baltimore will be
closed. Many of our Baltimore customers are also served by our
Boston and Torquay facilities. This will result in two fibre optic
hubs, one on each side of the Atlantic.
We have also begun transferring production from our facility in
St Asaph, Wales to our UK Precision Optics hub in Ilminster. An
optical systems engineering and design centre will be retained in
St Asaph, housing our world leading optical systems engineers in
order to continue their work developing a pipeline of innovative
new products.
We are targeting to complete both projects by the end of the
current financial year and to reap the full year benefits of the
reduced cost base in FY2022.
Continued execution of our strategy
Our longstanding strategic objectives are to diversify our
business and move up the value chain. We continue to make
considerable progress on both these counts. A&D represents
around a third of our revenue and life sciences continues to grow
strongly, now representing over 25% of Group revenues. We are
securing important new orders thanks to our growing systems
capability across all three of our business sectors.
Mark Webster, Chief Executive Officer of Gooch & Housego,
commented:
"Trading in the first four months of the financial year has seen
improved levels of demand in industrial and medical lasers.
"We are proud of the way that our staff have responded to the
challenge of the pandemic. All of our sites remain fully open and
are operating in line with all relevant health and safety rules and
regulations. Nevertheless, travel restrictions and some staff self
isolating present ongoing hurdles that we are working hard to
overcome.
"Good progress has been made on the first phase of streamlining
our manufacturing base. In addition, two further sites have started
to move their manufacturing to other established sites. We expect
both phases to be substantially complete by the end of current
financial year.
"The challenge of the pandemic has validated our long term
strategic goals of diversification and moving up the value chain.
We intend to vigorously pursue these goals through internal
investment and where appropriate, acquisitions."
A slide deck to accompany the AGM can be viewed at the investor
section of the Company's website, https://gandh.com/investors/
For further information
contact: -
Gooch & Housego
Mark Webster/Chris Jewell PLC 01460 256440
Mark Court/Sophie Wills/
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.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
TSTFZGZZNFNGMZM
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 24, 2021 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
Gooch & Housego (LSE:GHH)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Gooch & Housego (LSE:GHH)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024