REG - Northern Bear Plc - Trading Update

Northern BearAnnouncement

27/06/2022 07:00

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RNS Number : 2032Q  Northern Bear Plc  27 June 2022

27 June 2022

Northern Bear plc

("Northern Bear" or the "Company")

 

Trading Update, Strategy Update, and Notice of Results

 

The board of directors of Northern Bear (NTBR) (the "Board") provides an
update on trading for the Company and its subsidiaries (together, the "Group")
for the year ended 31 March 2022 ("FY22"), the financial year-end cash
position, and the ongoing business strategy review.

This update is provided subject to finalisation of our audited results for
FY22.  The Group's unaudited preliminary results for FY22 are expected to be
released in the week commencing 18 July 2022.

Trading update

In the interim report for the six months to 30 September 2021 ("HY22"), we
noted the industry-wide challenges with respect to both the availability and
price inflation of construction materials, along with the well-publicised
issues with attracting and retaining employees in our industry.

Despite the impact of these headwinds, we reported that our Group generated
strong operating results in HY22.  Our companies have strong and
well-established supplier relationships and have been able, on the whole, to
work with our robust supply chain to ensure continuity of supply for
contracts.

This situation has continued through the second half of FY22, and the Group
has generated strong operating results that continue to exceed those from the
prior year to 31 March 2021 ("FY21"), as well as those from the comparable
pre-pandemic year to 31 March 2020 ("FY20").

The Board's current expectation, subject to audit finalisation, is that
operating profit for FY22, stated before amortisation, one-off costs and other
adjustments (in the format used in prior years' results), will be in the range
of £2.5 million to £2.6 million.

Year-end cash position

The Group reported net cash of £0.6 million as at 30 September 2021 (31 March
2021: net cash £2.1 million).  Since then, our cash position has remained
strong and, whilst it reflects only a snapshot in time and our working capital
requirements change on a daily basis, the Group had a substantial net cash
position as at 31 March 2022 of £2.2 million.

Our cash position is often at a high point at year-end due to the timing of
working capital movements.  These have, to an extent, reversed post year-end
and we have on occasion made use of our £1.0 million overdraft facility and
up to £0.5 million of our revolving credit facility although the Group's
financial position remains strong.

We retain our committed £1 million overdraft and £3.5 million revolving
credit facility with Virgin Money plc.  This financial position and bank
facility headroom provides us with ample cash resources for the Group's
current strategic and operational requirements as we look ahead to the coming
financial year with optimism.

Strategy update

Following Board changes in 2021, including Jeff Baryshnik's appointment as
Non-Executive Chairman, Jeff commenced a process of engaging with the Board
and management to discuss and review the Group's strategy and approach to
capital allocation.

This review remains ongoing and in recent months we have assessed two
potentially accretive acquisitions of a more substantial size than those we
have made previously, which ultimately did not come to fruition.  We continue
to explore avenues for increasing shareholder value.

 

Jeff Baryshnik, Non-Executive Chairman of Northern Bear, commented:

"We are pleased to announce strong expected operating results for FY22,
despite ongoing headwinds."

"It is a testament to the executive team and the subsidiary operating teams
that FY22 results are expected to exceed those from the comparable
pre-pandemic period of FY20."

The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to
constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulation
(EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of United Kingdom domestic law by virtue of
the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.

For further information, please contact:

 Northern Bear PLC                                     +44 (0) 166 182 0369

 Jeff Baryshnik - Non-Executive Chairman

 Tom Hayes - Finance Director

 Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated Adviser and Broker)  +44 (0) 20 7409 3494

 James Harris

 James Bellman

 

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