REG - Trifast PLC - Trading Update

TrifastAnnouncement

14/02/2020 07:00

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RNS Number : 9840C  Trifast PLC  14 February 2020

The information contained within this announcement

is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information stipulated under the
Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.

 Upon the publication of this announcement via the Regulatory Information
Service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.

 

 

Trifast plc

(Trifast, Group or TR)

 

"Holding the world together"

 

International specialist in the design, engineering, manufacture and
distribution

of high quality industrial and Category 'C' fastenings principally to major
global assembly industries

 

 

Trading Update

 

 

London, Friday, 14 February 2020: The Board of Trifast provides the following
unaudited trading update covering the Q3 financial period and up to the date
of this announcement.

TRADING

In our Half-year results for the six months ended 30 September 2019, we
commented that in the current financial year we expected trading to be
weighted towards the second half in line with our normal trading pattern.
 However, since our announcement in November 2019 market conditions have
become more challenging than had been anticipated, reflecting greater
volatility of results in Q3, and a slower than forecast start to Q4 (the
latter being historically our strongest quarter in the financial year).

 

The impact of this weakness has continued to constrain revenue growth across a
number of our sectors.  With a corresponding reduction in gross and operating
margins against a semi-fixed cost base being further impacted by deferred
start of production dates.  As a result, following a review of our
year-to-date results and an update to our Q4 forecasts, the Board has
concluded that the Group's underlying profit before tax in FY2020 is now
expected to be at the lower end of analysts' forecasts.

 

Coronavirus

To date the impact of the Coronavirus epidemic has been restricted to the
extended closure of our Chinese sites and a corresponding reduction in locally
generated revenues.  It is not possible at this time to assess how extensive
any longer term impacts will be, but we are already working closely with our
customers and supplier base, only c.10% of which originates in mainland China,
to minimise these risks as far as possible.

 

Looking ahead

Both FY2021 and FY2022 are key investment years for the Trifast business.
 Not least as it is over this time period that we will see the majority of
the global roll-out of Project Atlas take place.

 

We remain confident that this transformational investment in our systems,
processes and procedures will drive at least a 25% return on investment.
 With benefits expected across all parts of our business from sales
generation, supplier management, warehouse efficiencies and improved data and
management information.  Whilst the project timetable continues to be on
track and on budget, in the current volatile macro-economic environment, the
shorter-term phasing of that benefit realisation is likely to be slower than
was originally anticipated.

 

Notwithstanding the current high levels of uncertainty, we are pleased to
report that our pipeline of new wins is strong and activity levels around the
Group continue to be encouraging.  This means despite a challenging FY2020
the business remains well positioned in its markets and we are optimistic
regarding prospects for revenue growth in FY2021 and beyond.  We are
encouraged and supported by the fact that we have lost neither business nor
customers over this difficult period and continue to hold preferred supplier
status at a wide range of large manufacturers across the globe.

 

The strong long-term fundamentals of our business model and strategy are
unchanged and the Board continues to be optimistic for the medium-term future.

 

The Company will provide a further Trading update in April ahead of annual
results scheduled to take place on 23 June 2020.

 

 

 

 Enquiries please contact:

 Trifast plc
 Malcolm Diamond MBE, Non-Executive Chairman
 Mark Belton, Chief Executive Officer
 Clare Foster, Chief Financial Officer
 Office: 44 (0) 1825 747630
 Email: corporate.enquiries@trifast.com
 (mailto:corporate.enquiries@trifast.com)

 Peel Hunt LLP

 Stockbroker & financial adviser
 Mike Bell
 Tel: 44 (0)20 7418 8900

 TooleyStreet Communications

 IR & media relations
 Fiona Tooley
 Tel : 44 (0)7785 703523
 Email : fiona@tooleystreet.com (mailto:fiona@tooleystreet.com)

 

 Editors' note:

 LSE Premium Listing: Ticker: TRI
 LEI number: 213800WFIVE6RUK3CR22
 Group website: www.trifast.com (http://www.trifast.com/)

 About us:

 Trifast plc (TR) is an international specialist in the design, engineering,
 manufacture and distribution of high quality industrial and Category 'C'
 fastenings principally to major global assembly industries.

 TR employs c.1300 people across 32 business locations within the UK, Asia,
 Europe and the USA including eight high volume, high-quality and
 cost-effective manufacturing sites across the world.  TR supplies over 5,000
 customers in c. 75 countries worldwide.

 As a full-service provider to multinational OEMs and Tier 1 companies spanning
 several sectors, TR delivers comprehensive support to its customers across
 every requirement, from concept design through to technical engineering
 consultancy, manufacturing, supply management and global logistics.

 For more information, visit

 Investor website: www.trifast.com

 Commercial website: www.trfastenings.com (http://www.trfastenings.com/)

 LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/tr-fastenings
 (http://www.linkedin.com/company/tr-fastenings)

 Twitter: www.twitter.com/trfastenings (http://www.twitter.com/trfastenings)

 Facebook: www.facebook.com/trfastenings (http://www.facebook.com/trfastenings)

 

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