Temporary Suspension (5130U)

TIDMSTEC

RNS Number : 5130U

Shieldtech PLC

18 October 2010

Shieldtech plc

("Shieldtech" or the "Company")

Suspension of Trading in Shares

On 28 May 2010, Shieldtech (AIM: STEC), the specialist provider of products and services to the Homeland Security market, announced that its subsidiary Aegis Engineering Limited ("Aegis") had been appointed as a preferred supplier under the 'Metropolitan Police National Framework Agreement for the Supply of General Patrol Body Armour' ("MPNFA") to at least 30 out of the 53 police forces in the UK. The level of participation in the Agreement by each of the chosen suppliers is to be decided by a series of mini-tenders, some of which are currently in progress.

In a trading update in the same announcement the Company reported that it was experiencing a fall in demand for body armour systems in the UK police market. The directors attribute this to the uncertainty caused by MPNFA tender process which began in July 2008 and the tender for the Thames Valley Police framework contract announced in March 2010.The Company also reported that it did not expect an upturn in the market until the quarter ending September 2010 at the earliest.

The Board is now disappointed to announce, however, that such an upturn has not yet materialised and that the UK police market demand has continued to fall. None of the mini-tenders have yet been completed and the timing of any orders arising from them remains uncertain.

The UK police market has experienced significant changes in the past three years, driven by several factors of which the latest are the delays reported above. These have severely limited the Company's ability to win new contracts in the UK and adversely impacted its working capital position. The Company has been working with its bank, HSBC, loan note holders and existing and new potential investors, to try to strengthen its working capital position but no satisfactory conclusion has been reached.

Accordingly, pending clarification of the Company's financial position, the directors have requested the suspension of the trading of its shares on the AIM market with immediate effect.

A further announcement will be made in due course.

Contacts:

 
 Shieldtech plc                            Tel: [phone] 
  Tony O'Neill, Chief Executive                       840048 
  Officer 
  Paul Grundy, Group Finance Director 
 Seymour Pierce                         Tel: [phone] 
  Mark Percy (Corporate Finance)                        8000 
 

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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