Final Results

Hardide PLC 13 December 2005 Press Release 13 December 2005 Hardide plc ('Hardide' or 'the Company') Preliminary Results for the Period to 30 September 2005 Hardide plc, the provider of unique surface engineering technology, announces its maiden set of preliminary results which cover the trading of Hardide plc from its formation on 27 January 2005 to the Company's year end on 30 September 2005. The pro forma results cover the trading of the operating subsidiary Hardide Coatings Limited, which was acquired by Hardide plc on 7 March 2005, for the twelve months to 30 September 2005. Highlights • Proforma turnover of £1,088,615 (2004: £330,878) • Proforma operating loss reduced to £705,884 (2004: £1,005,202) • Proforma loss before tax reduced to £701,490 (2004: £1,016,937) • Strong order book Commenting on the results, Jim Murray-Smith, Chief Executive of Hardide plc, said: 'This is an encouraging set of results with Company turnover increasing three-fold on a proforma basis, and losses substantially reduced as expected. 'Demand for Hardide's product is strong and our order book places the Company on a solid footing for 2006. The coming year will be another important period for Hardide as we continue our impressive history of new customer acquisition. I look to forward to updating shareholders in the near future.' For further information: Hardide plc Jim Murray Smith, Chief Executive Tel: +44 (0) 1869 353 830 jmurray-smith@hardide.com www.hardide.com Seymour Pierce Sarah Wharry / Jeremy Porter, Corporate Finance Tel: +44 (0) 20 7107 8000 Media enquiries: Abchurch Henry Harrison-Topham / Chris Lane Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7700 chris.lane@abchurch-group.com www.abchurch-group.com Chairman's Statement Hardide has made sound progress in the last year, which incorporated our listing on the AIM market and has resulted in this solid set of Preliminary Results. Notable was the success achieved in establishing relationships with leading companies in the forefront of the drive for technologies that improve the life of components and optimise performance. Market conditions in our target sectors and a healthy order book augurs well for 2006. The coming year will also see a significant uplift in the scale and complexity of our operations. The challenge will be to build on the opportunities presented by the strength of the oil & gas and aerospace markets and to capitalise on our international potential. We are well placed to exploit these prospects and have embarked on a strategic plan geared to the realisation of our ambitions. We remain firmly focused on growing our core business through a combination of building new and existing customers, new technology, international expansion and excellent customer service. Hardide has an exciting future and I am confident that 2006 will see the Company achieve ever more significant growth. The Board would like to thank the management team and staff for their hard work and commitment during this time, in particular Chief Executive Officer, Jim Murray-Smith, for his vision and dedication in steering the Company through a challenging and exciting year. His leadership of the Company and employees resulted in a smooth and successful flotation in a year that encompassed strong growth in all of Hardide's core markets. David Chestnutt Chairman Chief Executive's Report I am delighted to report Hardide's maiden set of Preliminary Results since the Company's flotation on AIM in April 2005, when we raised £1.4 million to enable Hardide to move on to the next stage of its development. This set of preliminary results covers the period of trading from Hardide plc's formation on 27 January 2005 to the Company's year end on 30 September 2005. For direct comparison, we have included 12 month pro forma accounts for Hardide's sole operating subsidiary, Hardide Coatings Limited, for the period to 30 September 2005. This proforma set of accounts clearly demonstrates Hardide's progress throughout the period. Turnover for Hardide Coatings' has increased three-fold in the year ended 30 September 2005 to £1.09 million, with total income increasing to £1.2 million. This solid performance is attributable to the generation of additional business from existing customers, new customer gains as well as international expansion. For the quarter ending 30 September 2005, Hardide's UK coatings business achieved an EBITDA positive position and the UK manufacturing base and headquarters at Bicester, Oxfordshire is now complete and fully operational. I am pleased to report that such progress is being achieved with existing customers in the UK and Europe. Its scale of advance is demonstrated by sales more than trebling in the oil & gas, valve and pump sectors over the year. The Company's developing US business has also made a significant contribution with sales more than doubling. This growth in the US has been achieved in spite of the extended supply line to the territory. Post flotation, the Company invested £100,000 in a new pre-treatment plant at Bicester. This has enabled the Company to expand the range of materials that can be coated with Hardide, thereby opening up new markets and customers. The in-house pre-treatment plant further improves reliability and speeds up customer component turnaround time, resulting in enhanced productivity and greater customer satisfaction. Hardide's patented technology is used in three main areas: • Oil & Gas • Valves and Pumps • Aerospace Oil & Gas In the UK, the offshore oil & gas industry continues to be one of the most important industrial sectors of the economy, both in contribution to economic activity and capital expenditure. In 2005, oil prices surged to more than $70 a barrel and the International Energy Agency also revised its 2010 oil price forecast from last year's US $33 a barrel to US $45 a barrel, an increase of more than a third. In an environment where hydrocarbons are valued highly, the operating and service companies (Hardide's customers) are driven to optimise the management and productivity of existing oilfields to maximise the value that can be extracted from these assets. In this battle to exploit maximum value from both mature assets and from new found oil and gas fields, the industry is seeing increasing problems developing due to wear and corrosion of parts. The consequential costs are significant. Components that benefit from Hardide's unique patented coating are now in use in a large number of exploration and production (E&P) fields around the world. By coating components with Hardide, their longevity is increased which in turn helps to reduce downtime. This further reduces the challenges from high cost E& P that operators face, thereby offering enormous operational and financial benefits to oil companies, service companies and license holders. Hardide exhibited at two of the world's largest energy events in 2005, namely Offshore Technology Conference (Houston, USA) and Offshore Europe (Aberdeen, Scotland). Our presence greatly raised international awareness of Hardide and interest has been encouraging. Introductions made at the exhibitions have resulted in customer trials which, I am happy to report, are progressing well. These trials are the first step and a pre-requisite for sales. Valves and Pumps The Hardide coating is gaining acceptance as a proven technology in the UK and European valve markets. The Company's business in this sector increased nearly four-fold in 2005 and continues to grow with new customers being secured on a monthly basis. The new pre-treatment plant has underpinned this growth as we are now able to offer our customers fast turnaround times at premium prices. Among the top four Houston-based valve manufacturers, annual sales are estimated to be in excess of US $1 billion. Whilst the Company is currently in development work with US-based customers, it will be extremely difficult to achieve volume and highly profitable sales without a fully operational coating facility in Houston that will enable us to match European turnaround times. With most of the refining capacity around the world needing to be refurbished to cope with increasing volumes of highly corrosive sour crude oil, the demand for Hardide's tungsten carbide coating, which provides essential corrosion and wear resistance to valves, is likely to increase dramatically. I am happy to report that trials with suppliers to the refining industry are progressing well and that we recently gained approved supplier status from a leading international energy company from which we are already receiving revenue. The pump market is an important part of the worldwide engineering business and revenues from this sector have also increased more than three-fold in 2005. I anticipate business from European customers in this sector to grow substantially. The Company is working with, and receiving monthly orders from, one of the world's leading pump manufacturers that is based in the US. However, I firmly believe the potential of the US market can only be fully exploited with the development of a domestic coating facility. Aerospace Since expanding into the aerospace sector in April 2005, Hardide has made significant progress and has won approved supplier status from BAE Systems. We also successfully completed our first orders to coat components for their Eurofighter Typhoon. Other parts are under trial for BAE Systems and we are now in discussions with other leading aircraft manufacturers, including a FTSE 100 aerospace and engineering firm. Hardide can offer an unrivalled solution to improving performance and longevity of components for both commercial and military aircraft, where the prevention of corrosion and seizure is essential. I have been extremely encouraged by our early exploration of this sector and look forward to it playing a major role in our growth. New Facility In line with our strategy to invest for further growth, the Company's intention to establish a sales and manufacturing facility in Houston, Texas was announced in April 2005 and a sales office was established in July 2005. The production facility will service the US oil & gas market as well as Hardide's existing customers in the pump and valve sectors. Equipment supply lead times and commissioning times are fairly extended at eight months; consequently your Board is currently considering the timing and methodology of this next significant step in the Company's growth. In the meantime, three key administration, technical and sales positions have been filled to ensure seamless knowledge-transfer from the UK and to handle the current level of enquiries that are being received. Health and Safety/Environment Hardide is committed to maintaining the highest standards of health and safety and protection of the environment. The Company's health and safety record is exemplary. Environmental protection is fundamental to the Company's operations and we are continually looking for ways to eliminate the potential for any environmental impact. The Company will aim to achieve ISO 14001, the internationally recognised standard for Environmental Management Systems (EMS), accreditation in the next year. I believe this to be a market-leading move for a smaller organisation and one which will further enable us to work with the leading international companies in our target sectors. Furthermore, the pre-treatment plant investment included the installation of a ' best practice' solvent-based component cleaning process allowing us to maximise surface preparation efficiency while exceeding environmental and safety regulations. Research and Development (R&D) R&D will play a vital role by ensuring that the Company remains at the forefront of advances in surface engineering technology. As the Company focused attention on getting the UK and European facility fully operational, R&D has taken a back seat over the last year. It is now our intention to further develop our R&D activity over the next twelve months primarily to investigate additional Hardide coating variants. People At the heart of Hardide lies a technically superb and dedicated team of individuals who have channelled their talent to moving Hardide so far forward this year. In 2005, the team was strengthened by three key management appointments in the UK and two in the US. In the UK, Peter Davenport joined as Chief Financial Controller bringing ten years financial management experience; latterly with the UK subsidiary of NYSE-listed global coatings company Valspar Corporation. Additionally, two UK-based sales and management positions were created to spearhead our move into the international oil & gas, and aerospace industries. Barry Vineall has been appointed Technical Sales Manager to focus on the aerospace market and brings with him six years engineering and business development experience from AF Aerospace. Jeff Rutland has also joined as Projects Manager from worldwide oilfield services provider Schlumberger, where he held engineering and management positions over a five year period. Each brings extensive market understanding and contacts in the Company's key growth sectors. In Houston, Brian White and Larry Reed have been appointed as Technical Manager and Sales Manager respectively. Brian has nearly 20 years coatings research and development, and production experience. He joins from international product and service supply company, Smith International, Inc. in Houston where he spent eight years in their R&D materials and coatings operations. Larry has over 30 years sales management experience, the last ten with Cooper Cameron Valves where he sold valves to the oil & gas, petrochemical and other industries. I believe these appointments will enable us to develop and manage the interest generated within each of the Company's target sectors. Outlook It is clear that significant progress has been made during the last year with more than three-fold growth, an ever-increasing customer base and demand for new applications from existing customers. I view the future with optimism as the Company sits poised on the edge of major breakthroughs in two immense global markets, oil & gas and aerospace, while at the same time buoyant conditions prevail in our niche position within the valve and pump sectors. I believe that these encouraging conditions in the surface technology market across the Company's chosen sectors are set to continue and will fuel demand for Hardide's technology on the back of which I am confidant of delivering growing returns for our shareholders. Jim Murray-Smith Chief Executive Officer HARDIDE PLC PROFORMA PROFIT & LOSS ACCOUNT HARDIDE COATINGS LTD Year ended Year ended 30 September 30 September 2005 2004 £ £ Turnover 1,088,615 330,878 Cost of sales (458,518) (106,784) Gross profit 630,097 224,094 Other operating income 90,869 52,587 Administrative expenses Administration 1,190,897 1,113,686 Amortisation 4,956 4,954 Depreciation 230,997 163,243 (1,426,850) (1,281,883) Operating loss (705,884) (1,005,202) Interest receivable and similar income 13,026 7,631 Interest payable and similar charges (8,632) (19,366) Loss on ordinary activities before taxation (701,490) (1,016,937) Taxation on loss on ordinary activities - 44,246 Loss on ordinary activities after taxation (701,490) (972,691) GROUP PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT FOR THE PERIOD ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2005 From 27 January 2005 to 30 September 2005 £'000 Turnover 692 Cost of sales (283) Gross profit 409 Administrative expenses Administration 864 Amortisation (40) Depreciation 146 (970) Operating loss (561) Other income 68 Loss on ordinary activities before interest and taxation (493) Other interest receivable 19 Interest payable and similar charges (7) Loss on ordinary activities before taxation (481) Taxation on loss on ordinary activities - Loss on ordinary activities after taxation (481) Loss per share: basic and diluted (pence per share) 0.4 There are no recognised gains or losses other than the loss for the period ended 30 September 2005 of £481,000. All results relate to acquisitions made during the year. GROUP BALANCE SHEET AS AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2005 30 September 2005 £'000 Fixed assets Tangible assets 1,100 Intangibles (46) 1,054 Current assets Stock 63 Debtors 459 Cash at bank and in hand 1,107 1,629 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (313) Net current assets 1,316 Creditors: amounts falling due after one year (314) Net assets 2,056 Capital and reserves Called up share capital 1,275 Share premium reserve 1,262 Profit and loss account (481) Shareholders' funds 2,056 The financial statements were approved by the board on 12th December 2005 and signed on behalf of the board of directors. J Murray-Smith Director COMPANY BALANCE SHEET AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2005 30 September 2005 £'000 Fixed assets Investment in subsidiaries 1,100 1,100 Current assets Debtors 713 Cash at bank and in hand 646 1,359 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year (12) Net current assets 1,347 Net assets 2,447 Capital and reserves Called up share capital 1,275 Share premium reserve 1,262 Profit and loss account (90) Shareholders' funds 2,447 The financial statements were approved by the board on 12th December 2005 and signed on behalf of the board of directors. J Murray-Smith Director GROUP CASH FLOW STATEMENT FOR PERIOD ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2005 30 September 2005 £'000 Cash outflow from operating activities (851) Returns on investment and servicing of finance Interest element of finance lease rental payments (7) Interest received 19 12 Capital expenditure and financial investment Payments to acquire tangible fixed assets (245) Acquisitions and disposals Net cash transferred with subsidiary undertakings 456 Net cash outflow before financing (628) Financing Issue of shares 1,437 Repayment of finance lease (20) New finance lease agreements 318 1,735 Increase in cash 1,107 Notes 1. The financial information contained in this announcement does not represent the full statutory accounts of the group. 2. Statutory accounts for the period ended 30 September 2005 have not yet been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. They will carry an unqualified audit report and no statement under section 237 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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