Epwin Grp Regulatory News (EPWN)

8 August 2019

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.

Epwin Group Plc

("Epwin" or the "Group")

Half Year Trading Update and Notice of Results

Epwin Group Plc, a leading manufacturer of low maintenance building products, supplying businesses in the Repair, Maintenance and Improvement ("RMI"), new build and social housing sectors, announces its half year trading update and notice of its half year results announcement.

Trading update

The Board anticipates adjusted profit before tax for both H1 and the full year to be in line with market expectations. Revenues in the first half year were £140.0m (H1 2018 restated(1): £140.5m), in line with the Board's expectations, while like for like revenues(2) were marginally ahead of H1 2018.

The programme of site consolidation and efficiency improvements is progressing to plan. We will provide a comprehensive update at the half year results, however, a key recent development has been the completion of a property purchase, arms length sale, lease and development agreements entered into in relation to the Group's Telford site, which are together expected to generate net additional cash in the order of £8 million for the Group during the current financial year.

The Group's new PVC decking product has been successfully rolled out and the launch of the new aluminium window system, Stellar, has also progressed in line with the project plan, with very encouraging initial customer feedback and a strong pipeline of potential new customers.

The Group's key markets remain weak, with the key RMI market widely reported to have contracted in the first half of 2019 and the overall UK macro-economic backdrop continuing to be uncertain, with low consumer confidence and low real wage growth. However, the medium-term market prospects remain positive, driven by ongoing under-investment in RMI, demand for new build homes and social housing refurbishment.

The Group's financial position remains strong, with good cash generation and net debt at the half year of £29.2m, on a consistent pre IFRS 16 basis (H1 2018: £28.6m), representing approximately 1x adjusted EBITDA. In June, the Group put in place new banking facilities, for three years to June 2022 with the option of extending for a further two years. These new facilities comprise a £65 million revolving credit facility plus a £10 million overdraft facility and are on more favourable terms than the previous facility. This gives the Group significant funding headroom to continue to invest in the business and progress with its strategy.

(1) restated for the 2018 discontinued glass sealed unit operations

(2) like for like revenue is adjusted to account for the impact of one-off site closures in 2018 and acquisitions

Notice of results

The Group will announce its half year results for the six months ended 30 June 2019 on Wednesday 11 September 2019.

Jon Bednall, CEO of Epwin, commented:

"In a challenging market the Group delivered a pleasing performance in the first half of 2019, in line with market expectations. Trading has been robust and we have made significant strategic progress with new product launches, the continued reshaping of the Group's footprint and the acquisition of PVS.

Current trading is line with the Board's expectations, and while we remain cautious about macro-economic conditions, we expect to make further strategic progress in the remainder of the year and are confident about the group's longer-term prospects."

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