Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 4129U

Ricardo PLC

14 May 2008

 



Ricardo plc

14th May 2008 

Interim Management Statement

Ricardo plc - a market leading engineering, management and automotive consultancy, employing over 1700 people worldwide, is today providing an Interim Management Statement in respect of the period from 1 January 2008 to the date of this release.  Ricardo will announce its preliminary results for the financial year to 30th June 2008 on 24th September.

Ricardo's strategy is to exploit opportunities provided by the changing automotive landscape and the need to maximise the world's energy resources whilst minimising global CO2 emissions. The company is targeting growth in a number of new geographic regions and market sectors, and is investing in R&D to develop new technologies for an expanding customer base. The implementation of the Group strategy is progressing well and Group performance is in line with management expectations.

In the period market drivers remain strong with particular emphasis on accelerated design change by automotive companies to meet energy conservation, exhaust emissions and CO2 legislation together with improved safety. The growth of the order book during 2007 is now being delivered. During the 10 month period since the start of the financial year, revenue has increased 13%, resulting in increased profit, compared to the same period last year. Although the order book has reduced slightly since December 2007 as some of the larger programmes are executed, it remains strong at £95m (Dec 2007: £98m) at the end of April.

We are experiencing good growth and performance in our Technical Consulting business as we increasingly share work and deliver multi site projects. The US is continuing its turnaround and generating solid profit growth in line with plan. The UK continues to experience increased revenue and good profit growth benefiting particularly from business won in  Germany, India, Japan and Russia. Our hybrid activity continues to be busy. Our latest gasoline technology, which delivers 27% fuel economy benefit and clean diesel technology, targeted for US applications, are gaining interest worldwide.

Within the German division, the exhaust business has under-performed in the period due to a natural down scaling of a large series production programme. In Technical Consulting, as we improve the employee mix and bring in additional engineering talent, to serve both new and repeat business from German clients we have incurred further recruitment fees. During the period we have continued to maximise business from German clients and in this financial year to date, in excess of €6m of work has been transferred to the UK due to local capacity constraints.

These actions have led to a reduced local operating profit performance in Germany, but this has been more than compensated for by increased performance from the UK.

Strategic Consulting has broadened its operations into Asian markets and is experiencing steady growth.  

The balance sheet remains strong with no material changes in the financial position since the publications of the interims for the period ended 31st December 2007. 

Our outlook remains unchanged as the Group continues to make good progress, in line with management strategy and the Board has continued confidence in our prospects for the full year.

Further enquiries:

Ricardo plc
Dave Shemmans, Chief Executive		Tel: [phone]
Paula Bell, Group Finance Director
Website: www.ricardo.com
Gavin Anderson & Company
Fergus Wylie		Tel: [phone]

 

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