Acal plc announces the acquisition of Plitron Manufacturing Inc

Acal plc, a leading international supplier of customised electronics to industry, today issues a trading update for the year ending 31 March 2016, covering the 4 months period from 1 October 2015 to 31 January 2016, and announces the acquisition of Plitron Manufacturing Inc.

Trading update

During the 4 months ended 31 January 2016, the Group performed in line with our expectations.

In the Design & Manufacturing division, sales increased by 26% CER. Like-for-like2 growth continued at levels similar to the first half of the current financial year.

In the Custom Distribution division, ongoing sales3 were flat, with Continental Europe growing at levels similar to organic rates in the D&M division while the UK remained in decline. As indicated at the time of our first half results announcement, overall sales growth in Custom Distribution was impacted by the strong prior year comparator arising primarily from a few large one-off customer orders.

Gross margin remains firm and ahead of last year.

Flux A/S, which was acquired on 5 November 2015 for an initial consideration of £3.7m, and Contour Electronics, which was acquired on 8 January 2016 for an initial consideration of £17.0m, are performing as expected.  

Whilst mindful of the current uncertain economic and market conditions, we maintain our earnings forecast for the full year.

Acquisition of Plitron Manufacturing Inc

Plitron, based in Toronto, Canada, is a designer and manufacturer of custom toroidal transformers for transportation, medical and  industrial applications.

With a well established track record of supplying high quality, custom-engineered magnetic products in North America, the business will further develop the Group's international capabilities and is expected to generate new cross-selling opportunities. Plitron will operate within Acal's Design & Manufacturing division ("D&M") whilst retaining its distinct brand identity.

Plitron has been acquired for a consideration of C$4.0m (£2.0m) on a debt free, cash free basis. It reported sales for the year ended 31 May 2015 of C$8.2m (£4.0m) and gross assets of C$3.2m (£1.6m). The acquisition was funded from Acal's existing debt facility.

About Acal plc

Acal is a leading international supplier of customised electronics to industry. It designs, manufactures and distributes customer-specific electronic products and solutions to 25,000 industrial manufacturers and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: ACL).

Acal has two divisions: Design & Manufacturing and Custom Distribution. The majority of its sales comes from products and solutions which are created uniquely for a customer. Acal works across a range of technologies, namely Power & Magnetics, Communications & Sensors, Electromechanical, Imaging & Photonics and Embedded Computers & Displays.

Acal operates through the following wholly-owned businesses:  Acal BFi, Contour, Flux, Foss, Hectronic, MTC, Myrra, Noratel, Plitron, RSG, Stortech and Vertec. It has operating companies and manufacturing facilities in a number of markets, including the UK, Germany, France, the Nordic region, Benelux, Italy, Poland, Slovakia and Spain, as well as in Asia (China, India, Sri Lanka, South Korea and Thailand), the US, Canada and South Africa.