REG - Spirent Comm PLC - Trading Update

Spirent CommunicationsAnnouncement

20/01/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 3297N  Spirent Communications PLC  20 January 2023

SPIRENT COMMUNICATIONS PLC

Trading Update 2022 - Good growth in a difficult environment

 

London, UK - 20 January 2023: Spirent Communications plc ("Spirent", the
"Company" or the "Group") (LSE: SPT), the leading provider of automated test
and assurance solutions for next-generation devices and networks, today issues
the following Trading Update for the financial year ended 31 December 2022,
noting all financial results are subject to external audit.

 

Group performance

·   2022 results in line with expectations, good earnings growth

·   Strong orderbook built over last 18 months

·   Strong balance sheet and cash flow, resilient business model

 

We are pleased to deliver our full year results for 2022 in line with
expectations having successfully navigated global economic challenges, supply
chain constraints and increasing cost inflation. Full year revenue grew by 5.5
per cent to $607 million and we expect to deliver an adjusted operating
profit(1) slightly ahead of market consensus(2), showing good earnings growth
over 2021.

 

As previously communicated, global market economic conditions have been
impacting some of our customers, resulting in delays to their investment
decisions. Whilst we expect customers to remain committed to their development
projects overall, evidenced by no cancellations, the Group's performance is
now likely to have a heavier than usual weighting to the second half of 2023.

 

We continued to win important strategic deals and further built our orderbook
by 7 per cent during 2022. This performance was achieved following significant
orderbook growth in 2021. High-speed Ethernet grew strongly driven by new
product releases including new application security products, which offset
some customer timing impacts in Lifecycle Service Assurance.

 

Financial position

We maintained our strong balance sheet and disciplined investment policy. The
Group's cash position closed at $210 million supported by our effective
working capital management. We remain strongly placed to take advantage of
investment opportunities as they arise.

 

Outlook

We are pleased to have started the new financial year with a strong orderbook.
We are well positioned to deliver further strategic and operational progress,
with our key business drivers intact, and we continue to invest in our leading
technology solutions across our portfolio. Overall, the Group remains
well-placed to deliver continued progress in the year ahead, although there
will be greater weighting to the second half.

 

Eric Updyke, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

 

"Against a challenging market backdrop, we have delivered a good performance,
demonstrating the enduring, through-the-cycle strengths of our operating model
and service offerings.

 

Networks are becoming more complex than ever before and as customers seek
faster, more reliable, more secure connectivity solutions, the heightened need
for automated testing and assurance will require greater support from Spirent.

 

We expect the Group to continue to progress in 2023, and in spite of the
global economic conditions are confident in our mid-term targets with the
long-term structural growth drivers for our business continuing to be
compelling."

 

Spirent expects to announce its full year results for the financial year ended
31 December 2022 on Wednesday, 8 March 2023.

 

Notes

1.      Adjusted operating profit is before acquired intangible asset
amortisation, share-based payment and other adjusting items.

2.      Management believes consensus expectations for adjusted operating
profit for the year to be $127 million, with a range of expectations of $122
million to $131 million.

 

- ends -

 

Enquiries

 Eric Updyke, Chief Executive Officer                            Spirent Communications plc    +44 (0)1293 767676

                                                                                               E: investor.relations@spirent.com (mailto:investor.relations@spirent.com)
 Paula Bell, Chief Financial & Operations Officer

 James Melville-Ross/James Styles/Humza Vanderman/Leah Dudley    Dentons Global Advisors       +44 (0)20 7664 5095

                                                                                               E: spirent@dentonsglobaladvisors.com
                                                                                               (mailto:spirent@dentonsglobaladvisors.com)

 

About Spirent Communications plc

Spirent Communications plc (LSE: SPT) is the leading global provider of
automated test and assurance solutions for networks, cybersecurity, and
positioning. The Company provides innovative products, services and managed
solutions that address the test, assurance and automation challenges of a new
generation of technologies, including 5G, SD-WAN, Cloud, autonomous vehicles
and beyond. From the lab to the real world, Spirent helps companies deliver on
their promise to their customers of a new generation of connected devices and
technologies. Further information about Spirent Communications plc can be
found at https://corporate.spirent.com/ (https://corporate.spirent.com/) .

 

Spirent Communications plc Ordinary Shares are traded on the London Stock
Exchange (ticker: SPT; LEI: 213800HKCUNWP1916L38). The Company operates a
Level 1 American Depositary Receipt (ADR) programme with each ADR representing
four Spirent Communications plc Ordinary Shares. The ADRs trade in the US
over-the-counter (OTC) market under the symbol SPMYY and the CUSIP number is
84856M209. Spirent ADRs are quoted on the Pink OTC Markets electronic
quotation service which can be found at
https://www.otcmarkets.com/marketplaces/otc-pink
(https://www.otcmarkets.com/marketplaces/otc-pink) .

 

Spirent and the Spirent logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Spirent Communications plc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks
mentioned herein are held by their respective companies. All rights reserved.

 

Cautionary statement regarding forward-looking statements

This document may contain forward-looking statements which are made in good
faith and are based on current expectations or beliefs, as well as assumptions
about future events. You can sometimes, but not always, identify these
statements by the use of a date in the future or such words as "will",
"anticipate", "estimate", "expect", "project", "intend", "plan", "should",
"may", "assume" and other similar words. By their nature, forward-looking
statements are inherently predictive and speculative and involve risk and
uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that
will occur in the future. You should not place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which are not a guarantee of future performance
and are subject to factors that could cause our actual results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by these statements. The Company
undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in
this document, whether as a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.

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