Trading Update

15 April 2019

XP Power Limited
(“XP Power” or the “Company”)

Trading Update

XP Power, one of the world's leading developers and manufacturers of critical power control components for industrial, healthcare, semiconductor and technology markets, is today issuing a trading update for the first quarter ended 31 March 2019.

Trading

The Company has made a good start to the new financial year with order intake in the first quarter of 2019 of £54.6 million (2018: £51.2 million), up 7% on Q1 2018 on a reported basis and in line on a constant currency basis.  On a “like for like” basis, removing currency effects and the contribution from  Glassman High Voltage which was acquired in May 2018, orders decreased by 4%.

Group revenue for the three months to 31 March 2019 was £46.9 million (2018: £46.6 million), up 1% on Q1 2018 on a reported basis, or 5% below in constant currency. On a “like for like” basis revenue decreased by 12%. 

Revenue growth in the first quarter was encouraging across the industrial, healthcare and technology sectors.  The semiconductor manufacturing equipment sector continued to feel the impact of the widely reported slowdown with both order intake and revenue down on the strong comparatives of 2018.

The book to bill ratio, which tracks the relationship between orders received and completed sales, and which is an indicator of future revenue growth, was 1.16 for the first quarter (2018: 1.10 times).

Financial Position

Net debt was £49.1 million at 31 March 2019 compared with £52.0 million at 31 December 2018.

Dividend

The Board has declared a dividend for the first quarter of 17 pence per share, a 6% increase over the prior year, which will be paid on 11 July 2019 to shareholders on the register at 14 June 2019 (2018: 16 pence per share).

Outlook

We are encouraged by the continued strength of order intake experienced across the industrial, healthcare and technology sectors, and the book to bill level gives us confidence for the future.  We continue to expect further revenue growth in 2019 which will be weighted to the second half of the year.  The Board’s expectations for the Company’s full year performance remain unchanged.

Enquiries:

XP Power
Duncan Penny, Chief Executive Officer  [phone]
Gavin Griggs, Chief Financial Officer      [phone]

Citigate Dewe Rogerson                [phone]
Kevin Smith/Jos Bieneman

Note to editors

XP Power designs and manufactures power controllers, the essential hardware component in every piece of electrical equipment that converts power from the electricity grid into the right form for equipment to function.

XP Power typically designs power control solutions into the end products of major blue-chip OEMs, with a focus on the industrial (circa 44% of sales), healthcare (circa 22% of sales), semiconductor manufacturing (circa 24% of sales) and technology (circa 10% of sales) sectors.  Once designed into a programme, XP Power has a revenue annuity over the life cycle of the customer’s product which is typically 5 to 7 years depending on the industry sector. 

XP Power has invested in research and development and its own manufacturing facilities in China and Vietnam, to develop a range of tailored products based on its own intellectual property that provide its customers with significantly improved functionality and efficiency.

Headquartered in Singapore and listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange since 2000, XP Power serves a global blue-chip customer base from 29 locations in Europe, North America and Asia. 

For further information, please visit xppower.com