AGM Statement

 

TIDMDSN 
 
RNS Number : 0492U 
Densitron Technologies PLC 
17 June 2009 
 

 
Densitron Technologies plc 
Trading update and result of AGM 
Densitron Technologies plc ("Densitron" or the "Company" or the 
"Group") announces that, at the Company's annual general meeting held earlier 
today, all of the resolutions proposed to shareholders were duly passed and 
today provides an update on its trading activities. 
In the Annual Report the board indicated that 2009 would be a challenging year 
for many businesses and this has proved to be the case. Densitron has not been 
immune to the global economic downturn, however the directors remain confident 
that the Company is well positioned to come through the present challenges and 
capitalize on opportunities as the economies around the world recover. 
A summary of the performance of Densitron's trading division and an update on 
the two investments owned by the Group is as follows: 
Operations 
In the first five months of the year sales have been helped by the strong 
orderbook brought into 2009 and are only marginally behind the first five months 
of 2008 while gross profit is marginally ahead of the same period in 2008. 
 
 
Orders booked have been affected by the current recession and during the first 
five months are down on the same period in 2008. The main reason for the 
reduction in the orderbook is the lack of orders received from the existing 
Customer base and is primarily due to higher levels of inventory resulting in a 
reduction in required orders. The board expects that there will be 
further orders placed by these Customers in the second half of the year and 
emphasises that no customers have been lost and that the current reduced order 
level is a result of the slowdown in their businesses and not a reflection on 
the Company's performance. 
 
 
Expenses are higher than in the first five months of 2008, although in line with 
budget, reflecting the investments made during the second half of 2008 to 
develop future business. While the Company budgeted to make a loss in the first 
half of 2009 it is anticipated that this loss will be greater than budgeted for 
but the directors remain confident that the Company will be profitable in the 
second half of the year. 
 
 
With the lead time between orders being taken and delivered the Company has been 
able to assess its level of overheads against the business being forecasted and 
thereby make the necessary cost savings. This has enabled the Company to bring 
overheads down without jeopardising the current opportunities pipeline and 
future growth prospects. The board expect to see the major impact of these cost 
savings in the second half of the year. 
 
 
Despite the difficulties encountered over the last six months certain areas of 
the business have been able to outperform the market and business in France and 
Japan has been particularly strong. The UK and Germany have strong pipelines of 
new business that the directors expect to be booked over the next couple of 
months which will help underpin not only the recovery in the second half but 
also growth in 2010. 
 
 
The Company continues to pursue new business opportunities particularly in the 
areas of advanced display products, touchscreens and customized displays. More 
information about these products is available on the Company's website. In 
addition the Company has continued to strengthen its distribution base by 
signing new distribution agreements in the Netherlands and Slovenia. 
 
 
Land at Blackheath 
Having completed the necessary surveys and outline plans for the land at 
Blackheath the Company appointed a property consultant to advise on how best to 
proceed. Their advice is to promote the land for re-designation from 
Metropolitan Open Land through the newly formed Local Development Framework. It 
is believed that the process for consideration and re-designation will take 18 
months with a decision expected in the first half of 2011. 
 
 
Evervision Electronics Limited 
Evervision, the Company's investment in a Taiwanese display 
manufacturer, rationalized its operations prior to the current economic downturn 
and as such has seen less impact than other Taiwanese manufacturers. It 
continues to be significantly cash rich and the Directors continue to work on 
ways to provide a return on the investment. 
 
 
 
 
Outlook 
The Company previously reported that following the disposals of certain loss 
making operations, a three year plan for growth was put in place and that 2008 
was the first of the three years. Having achieved the targets of the first of 
the three years the business was set up to build on these achievements and grow 
further in 2009. The result of the economic downturn has, however, meant that 
the second year target will not be achievable but the long term prospects of the 
business remain strong. With the Team we have in place we are convinced this 
will give the Company the best chance of attaining sustained and long term 
growth. 
 
 
Enquiries: 
 
 
+------------------------------------+------------------------------------+ 
| Densitron                          | HansonWesthouse                    | 
| Grahame Falconer / Tim Pearson     | Tim Metcalfe / Martin Davison      | 
| Tel: [phone]                 | Tel: [phone]                 | 
|                                    |                                    | 
+------------------------------------+------------------------------------+ 
 
 
 
This information is provided by RNS 
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange 
   END 
 
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