Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 1509M

Ricardo PLC

19 May 2010

 



Ricardo plc

19 May 2010

Interim Management Statement

Ricardo plc ('Ricardo' or 'the Company') - a market leading engineering and automotive consultancy, is today providing an Interim Management Statement in respect of the period 1 January to the date of this release.  Ricardo will announce its preliminary results for the twelve month period ending 30 June 2010 on 28 September 2010.

 In the interim results published on 25 February we described a good pipeline and apparent upturn in some areas of our business, but indicated that markets had not yet returned to normality.  Markets have continued to reflect the underlying weakness of economic recovery.  Many customers remain cautious and some projects are taking longer to close than expected.  This has particularly affected the UK activities, which rely on customers in Eastern Europe and Asia.  We continue to make good progress in North America and in Germany, where our business is developing steadily. Overall, the pipeline remains strong with some traditional customers returning to discuss opportunities.

Order intake for the four months to April was some 11% higher than last year, albeit still subdued.  The order book at the end of April was ₤87m, which compared to ₤84m at the same time last year and ₤99m at 31 December 2009.  Revenues in the four months were similar to last year.

Since 1 January, significant orders have been received from Chinese passenger car, UK MOD, US DOD, US commercial vehicle and German commercial vehicle customers. However due to prolonged negotiation periods and client decision-making, these orders have often come in later than originally anticipated.  This delay will limit revenue in the fourth quarter.

Negotiations are in progress with a number of potential purchasers of our German exhaust business. As previously stated, we expect to be able to announce a transaction by the time of the preliminary announcement.

The balance sheet remains strong with no significant change in the financial position since our half-year results to 31 December 2009. Current service accruals to the Company Defined Benefit Pension Scheme have now ceased.

Markets remain uncertain and have still not returned to normality. Current levels of activity are similar to those experienced in the second half of the last financial year. The board believes that the strategy of market and geographic growth allied with tight on-going cost control and continuing investment in R&D and infrastructure projects, has positioned the Group well to weather current market weakness and to take advantage of the expected recovery next year. 

Further enquiries:

Ricardo plc
Dave Shemmans, Chief Executive	Tel:	01273 455611
Bill Jessup, Interim Group Finance Director
Website: www.ricardo.com
Kreab Gavin Anderson	Tel:	0207 074 1800
Fergus Wylie
Michael Turner
Matthew O'Leary

 

END

 

 

IMSEASSPFSDEEFF