Trading Statement

Swallowfield PLC 04 August 2003 Swallowfield plc Trading Update Further to the last statement issued on 22 May 2003, Swallowfield plc today is pleased to confirm that sales during the last eight weeks of the financial year ended 30th June 2003 were higher than expected and sales for the second half, as a whole, will therefore be in the range of £21.6m to £22.0m. Although the slowdown in retail sales and weak economic sentiment are each still evident, recent new product launches and shipments of summer gifts have been better than expected. We now expect our results for the year ended 30 June 2003 to be ahead of current market expectations, but not to the levels anticipated earlier in the year. This increase in sales has also beneficially affected stock and net debt levels compared with current expectations. As anticipated, sales have been slow during the first four weeks of the new financial year, a trend which the Directors believe is likely to continue until the second quarter. Looking forward, there are tentative and early signs that the longer-term measures which we have taken involving overhead reductions and production efficiencies are beginning to have an impact. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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