Trading Statement

Expro International Group PLC 28 September 2004 Embargoed until 0700 28 September 2004 Expro International Group PLC ("Expro" or "the Group") Pre-close trading update for the half year ended 30 September 2004 The Board of Expro International Group PLC ("Expro") announces today that the recovery trends described in the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2004 have continued in the half year as anticipated. Consequently the results for the six months to 30 September 2004 are expected to be in-line with analyst expectations. The implementation of the new strategy outlined in December 2003 has begun to deliver benefits through improved activity levels generally within Expro. Despite much negative press, activity levels in the UK North Sea have remained buoyant with good demand for our products and services associated with well performance and Subsea tie-backs. These allow operators to take advantage of quick gains through additional production from existing well stocks, as well as connecting stranded accumulations of oil and gas via new subsea wells to the comprehensive infrastructure hub of the North Sea platforms. Deep water West Africa remains slow, consistent with our view that these prospects will take time to move to development. Our late cycle services require final project sanction and an established well operation prior to generating revenue. However, underlying progress is being made with technology which will lead to market share gains. In other markets in the region, such as Asia, we are making progress focused on project related opportunities which play to Expro's strengths, particularly in the areas of deep water and cost effective production solutions. In the Americas, where Expro had been loss making in the prior year, and despite the anticipated continuing poor trading conditions in the shallow water Gulf of Mexico market, progress is being made. This area is continuing to be affected by a lack of meaningful prospects to drive up activity levels despite strong commodity prices. Although disappointing, the market is stable and is now correctly resourced. In the deepwater Gulf we continue to see increased opportunity for our state of the art electro - hydraulic subsea tools. Elsewhere, Expro remains focused on introducing new, unique and high value technology. Our wireless well, electro-magnetic telemetery tools have been deployed successfully into the land market where they are helping our client perform advanced analysis of a complex subsurface reservoir during offset drilling operations. Our Houston facility also houses the engineering activities for the large Chayvo production plant which is on schedule for delivery to Sakhalin Island later this year. Graeme Coutts, Group CEO said; "I am pleased with the progress made by Expro in the first half of the year. Clients are approached with a greater enthusiasm than a year ago and both management's focus and the general energy levels in the business are significantly improved. We continue to develop and build a strong technology position which is capable of enhancing our clients' business and delivering sustainable growth for Expro. Although we have built our strategy around static market conditions we do see signs of underlying improvement which is reflected in a strengthening enquiry book. " - Ends - For further information please contact: Expro International Group PLC 0118 9591 341 Graeme Coutts, CEO Michael Speakman, Finance Director Colin Ainger, Executive Director Weber Shandwick Square Mile 020 7067 0700 Mike Kirk or Stephanie Badjonat This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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