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Share Name | Share Symbol | Market | Type | Share ISIN | Share Description |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Walker (Thomas) | LSE:WKT | London | Ordinary Share | GB0009355883 | ORD 5P |
Price Change | % Change | Share Price | Bid Price | Offer Price | High Price | Low Price | Open Price | Shares Traded | Last Trade | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0.00 | 0.00% | 18.50 | 0.00 | 01:00:00 |
Industry Sector | Turnover | Profit | EPS - Basic | PE Ratio | Market Cap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | 0 | N/A | 0 |
RNS Number:8404R Walker (Thomas) PLC 07 November 2003 7 November 2003 Thomas Walker PLC Chairman's Statement At previous Annual General Meetings, I have given shareholders a clear view of the Board's strategy to restore the Company to profitability and to provide a platform for future expansion in order to make a shareholder's investment less dependent on a very narrow and very mature facet of the textile industry. The first outline plan I shared with you was in 1999 and since that time, the trading results of the Company have been turned round from a loss of #211,742 in 1998 to a profit of #197,666 in the past financial year. This is during a period of contracting markets in which we operate and falling sales price thresholds. With the recent move to Kings Norton, the Company has completed the first stage of its overall strategy - namely - to restore Thomas Walker to ongoing profitability as a pre-requisite to achieving something more fundamental. In this, certain key elements had to be achieved :- 1 To vacate St Paul's Square before it became a financial liability. 2 To ensure that the Birmingham operations would be transportable and would survive on relocation. (This in many ways has been the limiting factor with timings - and I am particularly grateful for all the planning and layout work, which has been done behind the scenes); and 3 To complete the actual relocation. (This has gone remarkably well and with a minimum of unforeseen problems). At this stage, as we pause to gather breath, I would like to record the positive spirit and the constructive energy, which all our employees have put into completing the relocation. The sale and purchase of buildings have been but two elements of the overall relocation project, which, as I have already said, will be concluded and summed up in the accounts for 2003/2004. This means that the Board will now able to give its attention to the more onerous task of diversifying through acquisition. We already have some target areas in mind, but I am sure, you will understand when I say that it is not in anyone's interest to divulge our hand at this stage. Of course the motivation for this new stage is economic - that is to make our capital assets work harder for the shareholders and to avoid the waste of avoidable tax charges which would result if the proceeds from St Paul's Square were not re-invested in qualifying capital. Economies of scale should also result through spreading central management and general services over a wider operational base. If we review today's businesses, the main feature in our core fastenings trade is the fact that the temporary respite, which I had expected this time last year, has not materialised in practice. In fact distribution has become even more diffused as yet another wave of migration has taken place in garment manufacturing (as I have mentioned in the Chairman's Review in the Annual Report). This reflects the unrelenting quest for the lowest labour costs, the best tax breaks and the most favourable capital incentives. It is clear that in garment fastenings, we will have to be constantly on the move to keep in touch with customers and that we will have to be fast and flexible to take advantage of the slightest failing of our international competitors. We are presently developing new variations in the style of fastener to meet the preferences of local markets. All our products are now fully specified and controlled. We are considering extending ISO9002 accreditation, which is already operative in the South East Asian factory, to our Birmingham operations now that relocation has been completed. The new generation of attaching presses has been completed with our pre-production model of the fully automatic version. This was well received when it was demonstrated in Cologne earlier this year. Within manufacturing, we have shed our preoccupation with the building and can now concentrate on the technical status of the production machinery, which we have brought to Kings Norton, and the development of automation. Without this more products will migrate to South East Asia. Thomas Walker's personal identification (or ID) trade has hitherto been essentially UK oriented. Of late changes and opportunities have developed on the Continent of Europe where a greater usage is developing and where a more direct linkage is now required between manufacture and major users or distributors. Later this month, Thomas Walker will exhibit at the Paris trade fair and European development is a declared objective for the ID trade. Finally, and to repeat what I have already said the main objectives for the forthcoming months are modernisation in our manufacturing and the acquisition of a compatible enterprise where synergy will start to yield economies of scale. I hope to be in a position to report good progress this time next year. Bryan C Knight This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END AGMNKOKBABDDPDK
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