Sprue Aegis plc Trading Statement (2537D)

TIDMSPRP

RNS Number : 2537D

Sprue Aegis plc

30 January 2018

30 January 2018

Sprue Aegis plc

("Sprue" or the "Company" or the "Group")

Trading update

Sprue (AIM: SPRP), one of Europe's leading home safety product suppliers, announces the following trading update for the year ended 31 December 2017. The figures set out in this announcement are subject to audit.

For the year ended 31 December 2017, operating profit* is expected to be in line with market expectations at approximately GBP4.5m (2016: GBP2.1m) helped by a significant improvement in gross margin and pro-active management of the cost base on expected sales of GBP54.3m (2016: GBP57.1m).

2017 was a strategically pivotal year for the Group with the transition of Sprue's own product manufacturing away from Newell Brands to Flex in Poland and the sourcing of replacements to the BRK products from a leading Far East based supplier. The Board is pleased with the progress made and expects both production and the sourcing of alternative products to commence in April this year.

The Company expects to announce its audited final results for the year ended 31 December 2017 in late March 2018.

Graham Whitworth, Executive Chairman of Sprue, commented:

"2017 saw a significant improvement in gross margin with operating profit* more than doubling to GBP4.5m, albeit against a backdrop of lower sales than anticipated.

The transition of manufacturing to Flex in Poland and the sourcing of products from a leading Far East supplier are on track. We are excited about becoming independent from Newell Brands from 31 March 2018 and believe that 2018 is set to be a transformational year for the Group."

*Operating profit of GBP4.5m is stated before share based payments charge of GBP0.4m (2016: share based payments charge of GBP0.6m) and after exceptional items of GBPnil (2016: GBP0.2m exceptional restructuring charge)

For further information, please contact:

 
 Sprue Aegis plc                         02477 717700 
 Graham Whitworth, Executive 
  Chairman 
  Neil Smith, Group Chief Executive 
  John Gahan, Group Finance Director 
 
 Stockdale Securities                   0207 601 6100 
 Tom Griffiths 
 
 Vigo Communications                    020 7830 9700 
 Jeremy Garcia / Fiona Henson 
  / Emma Lord 
 

Notes to Editors

About Sprue Aegis plc

Sprue is one of the leaders in the European home safety products market and its range of products can be connected over the internet including smoke alarms, CO alarms and accessories.

The Group has its own extensive portfolio of patented intellectual property in Europe, the US and other selected territories. Products are sold under Sprue's leading brands of FireAngel and AngelEye.

Sprue's mission is to protect, save and improve its customers' lives by making innovative, leading edge

technology simple and accessible.   For further product information, please visit:  www.sprue.com 

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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January 30, 2018 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)