AVINGTRANS PLC — Earnings Release 2016

Sep 27, 2016

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RNS Number : 8753K

Avingtrans PLC

27 September 2016

Avingtrans plc

("Avingtrans" or the "Group")

Preliminary Results for the year ended 31 May 2016        

Avingtrans plc, which designs, manufactures and supplies critical components, modules and associated services to the energy, medical and industrial sectors, today announces its preliminary results for the twelve months ended 31 May 2016.

Financial Highlights

·     Aerospace division sold for an enterprise value of £65.0m, just prior to year end

·     Revenue from continuing operations decreased by 6% to £21.2m (2015: £22.6m)

·     Adjusted EBITDA from continuing operations increased by 18%, to £0.4m (2015: £0.3m)

·     Adjusted Profit Before Tax improved to £0.1m (loss 2015: £0.7m)

·     Adjusted Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations 1.0p (loss 2015: (0.4p))

·     Cash generated from operating activities £7.8m (2015: £1.6m)

·     Continued investment in capability and capacity in continuing operations : £0.5m (2015: £0.8m)

·     Net Cash increased to £51.0m (31 May 2015: Net debt £5.9m)

·     Increased final dividend of 2.1p per share, Full year total 3.2p (2015: Final 2.0p, Total 3.0p)

·     Tender offer of £28 million to be announced shortly, expected to be completed during November 2016

Operational Highlights

·     Energy and Medical division revenues flat, constrained by low oil price, EBIT recovered in H2

·     Aldridge building sold for £1.1m net proceeds

·     Modest full year operating profit of £0.1m (loss 2015: £0.7m) achieved by focus on cost controls

·     Significant pre-production progress achieved for Sellafield 3M3 box contract

·     New contract wins with Rapiscan and Bruker, each worth £3m over 3 years

·     Post year end, Maloney won a contract with EDF, worth £3.5m over 3 years

·     Crown's markets were stable and the business remains profitable

Commenting on the results, Roger McDowell, Chairman, said:

"This was an exceptional year for Avingtrans. The group sold its Aerospace division for an enterprise value of £65m with the intention to return £28m of the disposal proceeds to shareholders through a tender offer, which we will announce shortly. Plans are advancing positively on the expected utilisation of the remaining funds, both organically and via acquisition. The Energy and Medical division performed in line with management expectations in the period and we look forward to the year ahead, as we prepare to capitalise on the major contract wins with Sellafield, Rapiscan, Bruker and EDF."

"With attractive structural growth markets and durable customer relationships, we remain cautiously confident about the future of Avingtrans."

Enquiries:

Avingtrans plc	01354 692391
Roger McDowell, Chairman Steve McQuillan, Chief Executive Officer Stephen King, Chief Financial Officer
Numis	020 7260 1000
Richard Thomas (Corporate Finance and Nominated Adviser) Tom Ballard (Corporate Broking)
Newgate (Financial PR)	020 7653 9850
Adam Lloyd Ed Treadwell

About Avingtrans plc:

Avingtrans is engaged in the provision of highly engineered components, systems and services to the energy, medical and traffic management industries worldwide.

Energy and Medical

Stainless Metalcraft Ltd - Chatteris, UK and Chengdu, China
Provider of safety-critical equipment for the energy, medical, science and research communities, worldwide, specialising in precision pressure and vacuum vessels and associated fabrications, sub-assemblies and systems.
Maloney Metalcraft Ltd - Aldridge, UK
Designs, manufactures and services oil and gas extraction and processing equipment, including process plant for dehydration, sweetening, drying and compression.
Crown International  Ltd - Portishead, UK
Designs and manufactures market-leading pole and support systems for roadside signage and safety cameras, rail track signalling and gantries.
Composite Products Ltd - Buckingham, UK
Centre for composite technology, parts and assemblies, serving customers in industrial markets.

Chairman's Statement

The last twelve months have been a year of momentous change for the group. Results for the year are dominated by the sale of our Aerospace division, close to our financial year end for an enterprise value of £65 million which, after adjustment for debt and working capital and associated transaction costs, resulted in the Company receiving  proceeds of approximately £52 million (before escrow arrangements).

This transaction was a consequence of a strategic review of the Avingtrans group and its prospects during 2015. This review involved the Board and the Divisional Managing Directors, as well as external advisors. It resulted in four key concepts and outcomes:

1.      Avingtrans has a successful track record of growing businesses from start-up, developing them internationally, and crystallising value through their sale at an appropriate stage in their development, as demonstrated by the successful sale of JenaTec in 2012.

2.      Following the successful conclusion of the acquisition of the Rolls-Royce pipe business (completed in March 2016, but already under discussion in 2015), the Board felt that it had achieved the majority of the targets which it had set for the Aerospace Division and it was the right stage in its development to consider a disposal of the business.

3.      Subject to achieving an attractive valuation for the Aerospace Business, the Board believed that shareholder value would be maximised over the mid to long term by disposing of the Aerospace Division and returning part of the proceeds from the disposal to shareholders, with the Company also reinvesting part of the proceeds into strengthening the Group's position in the Energy sector in particular and potentially other high value engineering sectors.

4.      The Board believes that the successful contract win by the Energy and Medical business with Sellafield in May 2015 (of the initial tranche of 3M3 nuclear waste disposal containers) demonstrated the significant business opportunities available in this market, if the Group were able to put more resource into this sector.

Over the last few years, the group grew the Aerospace Division to become an international leader in its chosen niche markets. This development was underpinned by a number of synergistic acquisitions, which enabled the Aerospace Division to build a strong brand and market position and to produce improved performance. Thus, the group has realised significant value for shareholders through the disposal, at a considerable premium to the cost of the original component parts. The transaction followed a concentrated sale process, which produced a number of bids, from a select group of relevant industry and financial suitors from the UK, Europe, the USA and Asia

Meanwhile, the Energy and Medical division has made steady progress in its recovery from the oil and gas sector downturn. During the year, we sold the freehold of the Maloney Metalcraft building at Aldridge for £1.1m, net of costs, limiting our exposure to a continuingly depressed oil and gas market. Pre-production activities commenced on the £47m, ten year contract with Sellafield, for the provision of 3M3 (three-metre-cubed) nuclear waste boxes, albeit that we have seen some changes to phasing of the production start-up. Metalcraft is well-placed to be a key partner for Sellafield in this programme over the next 30 years. We were also very pleased to win two £3m contracts with Bruker and Rapiscan, both of which marked important developments in the diversification of the Energy and Medical division and improved the prospects for the Chengdu and Buckingham units.

During the year, we continued to invest in skills and completed our investments in new IT systems, as part of an on-going journey towards world-class manufacturing capability.

We are now in a period of transition for the group, where we will return £28 million to shareholders and use the remaining c£20 million of cash to bolster our Energy and Medical division's organic growth prospects and to proactively seek new opportunities to build shareholder value through acquisitions. Despite the economic uncertainty following the Brexit vote, we're not under any pressure to buy and it is a good time to have cash.

In addition to the cash to be returned to shareholders, the Board has declared an increased final dividend, of 2.1 pence per share, rendering a full year total of 3.2 pence, once again underlining our commitment to consistently improve returns to our shareholders.

Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our employees, past and present, for their hard work and dedication to deliver excellent quality engineering products and services to our customers.

Roger McDowell

Chairman

26 September 2016

Strategic Review

Group Performance

Strategy

We are a precision engineering group, operating in differentiated, specialist niches in the supply chains of many of the world's best known engineering original equipment manufacturers. Our core strategy is to build market-leading niche positions in our chosen market sectors - currently Energy and Medical. Over the longer term, our acquisition strategy has enabled our businesses to develop the critical mass necessary to achieve market leadership.

Our core businesses have the capability to engineer products in Europe and produce those products partly, or wholly in Asia, allowing us and our customers to access low cost sourcing at minimum risk, as well as positioning us neatly in the development of the Chinese and Asian markets for our products. Metalcraft is well established in China, providing integrated supply chain options for our customers.

The strategy of the group, is to "buy and build" in regulated engineering niche markets, where we can see potential consolidation opportunities, which can lead to significantly increased shareholder returns over the medium to long term. We will then crystallise the gains with periodic sales of businesses at advantageous times, enabling us to return the proceeds to shareholders. The Sigma deal and its precursor acquisitions clearly showed that we can build strong brands and value from smaller constituent parts - we have also demonstrated well-developed deal-making skills and shown that we do not overpay for assets.

Niche Market Positioning

Aerospace: Sigma achieved leadership in civil aerospace pipes and ducts and in the domain of aerospace component polishing and finishing. This allowed us to sell Sigma for well over 2x the original shareholder equity invested in its development. With the disposal of Sigma, Avingtrans has exited the Aerospace market.

Energy and Medical: We are developing our position as a leading European supplier of energy industry process modules, vertically integrating this capability with the vessel manufacturing capability at Metalcraft. This same vertical integration capability lends itself to the nuclear decommissioning, life extension and "new nuclear" markets, as well as a variety of other niches in the renewable energy sector.

Metalcraft's cryogenic vessel manufacturing pedigree, spanning over 40 years, makes us a supplier of choice to OEMs in markets where this capability is critical; notably in magnetic resonance imaging, nuclear magnetic resonance and related sectors. We enjoy a global market leading position in this particular supply niche.

We have strengthened our capability to manage sophisticated outsourced manufacturing programmes for our customers, thus accessing business of enduring value, with the prospect of further sales growth. We remain focused on markets where we can sustain a significant competitive, long term advantage and where the regulatory and technical requirements provide competitive barriers to entry.

Thus, a "buy and build" around smaller deals, to consolidate a niche is again possible, as we demonstrated with Sigma. Having built successful Avingtrans businesses in Germany, the USA and China, as well as the UK, our M&A prospects are not confined to the domestic market.

Operations

Energy and Medical Division (Metalcraft, Maloney Metalcraft, Composite Products and Crown)

Operational Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

	2016	2015
·    Customer Quality - defect free deliveries (%)	99.3	99.3
·    Customer on time in-full deliveries (%)	97.0	97.0
·    Annualised staff turnover (%)	8.9	5.7
·    Health, Safety and Environment incidents per head per annum	0.05	0.1

The excellent divisional quality and delivery performance were sustained in the year. For some key customers, we were pleased to be able to record near perfect quality and delivery records across the full 12 months. Staff turnover - allowing for oil and gas market turmoil - is at an acceptable level for this type of business. Health and safety incidents continued their welcome significant improvement of recent years.

Operations (continued)

Energy and Medical Division (Metalcraft, Maloney Metalcraft, Composite Products and Crown) (continued)

The low oil price continued throughout the year, sapping any momentum in potential prospects for this sector. As previously noted, our response was swift and we took action to downsize the Maloney business and exit the Aldridge manufacturing site. The sale of the building was completed in our first half and we achieved a sale price for the freehold of £1.1m, net of costs. The subsequent sector woes fully justified our decisions. We have also countered the negative effects of the oil price, by focusing on the growth areas in the energy market, for example: energy storage; carbon capture; and nuclear power life extension and decommissioning.

The remaining effects of the oil price reduction mostly worked through Maloney in the period. Whilst this suppressed the revenue (-6%), we were satisfied that our early, decisive actions prevented further damage. Indeed, including the sale of the Maloney building, the division did make a healthy profit, but this one-off effect has been stripped out, such that the underlying performance was a very modest profit for the year.

Despite the current oil price issues, global power consumption is expected to grow at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of over 4% to 2025. This is positive for Metalcraft and Maloney, since we have interests in various parts of the energy cycle, from primary extraction, to generation, to alternative energy storage, to decommissioning. The demographics of a growing and ageing world population are encouraging for the medical imaging and diagnostics markets, so the division is well placed to benefit from external market drivers.

Summarising developments over the year at the Energy and Medical sites:

·    Metalcraft, Chatteris: business with Siemens and Cummins in the UK was again steady. Site delivery and quality consistency were further improved. The £47m /10 year contract with Sellafield Ltd, to produce 3M3 (three-metre-cubed) boxes, for the storage of intermediate level nuclear waste, is now underway. Whilst progress has been somewhat slower than anticipated, the delays are not material for the project overall and we have made good progress with site preparations and pre-production tests. The production set-up and prototype testing will continue in the current financial year, with series production expected to commence in our next financial year. Metalcraft is well-placed to be a key partner for Sellafield in this programme, over the next 30 years, during which time the total number of 3M3 boxes required is expected to be up to 70,000 units, according to Sellafield's own estimates.

·    Metalcraft, Chengdu: results for the unit improved year on year and we made good progress with the existing customers. The exciting news was the Bruker contract win for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) vessels. We have now begun preparations to start production of the Bruker systems in China later in the current financial year.

·    Maloney Metalcraft, Aldridge: as noted elsewhere, the oil price effects continued to wash through the business in the period, leading to a loss for this site, excluding the one-off sale of the building. There were some successes - notably the $2 million contract with JGC Gulf International Co. Ltd, to supply gas treatment packages. The sector remains in hibernation and we continue to review remaining costs prudently. Meanwhile, some of the team are being deployed on other contracts - e.g. nuclear. The recent EDF contract win, worth £3.5m, shows that the business has value beyond oil and gas.

·    Crown, Portishead: Crown had a steady year in its core business. The Future Environmental Technologies (FET) partnership made pleasing progress in the period, with the first carbon abatement project now running smoothly in Wales. This technology promises to make small to medium diesel generators "clean", which is very important in a future where the energy grid is more fragmented and localised. Other projects with FET are now underway.

·    Composites, Buckingham: the retained part of the composites business in Buckingham (now called Composite Products Ltd) also made a loss for the year - as we extracted the aerospace related content to go with Sigma - and due to start-up costs for Rapiscan. By year end, this business was running close to break-even, with improving prospects.

Aerospace Division (Sigma)

The timing was perfect for us to sell Sigma in the last year and crystallise the optimum shareholder value, having achieved the majority of our deliverable goals with this business, rather than to keep growing for the sake of it. The £65m enterprise value achieved was clearly a good outcome for shareholders, as verified by the comprehensive sale process, resulting in multiple credible bids for Sigma.

Financial Performance

Key Performance Indicators

The Group uses a number of financial key performance indicators to monitor the business, as set out below.

Revenue: continuing operations saw modest sales decline - oil and gas effects now washed through

Full year Group revenue of continuing operations was down by 6%, to £21.2m (2015: £22.6m). Energy and Medical again saw year-on-year effects of the oil price holding back revenues, though the base position now seems stable.

Profit: improved margins on lower volumes

Adjusted EBITDA increased by 18% (note 2), to £0.4m (2015: £0.3m).  Prompt action to re-size the cost base at Maloney, on-going improvements at Metalcraft and further progress in China improved the overall EBITDA.

Gross margins were 14.9% (2015: 10.7%), improving despite adverse conditions.

Tax:

The effective rate of taxation was 71.4%, whereas 2015 was 40.8% both a tax credit. The non-taxable sale of the property and ongoing release of deferred tax liabilities distorted the overall tax charge (2015 release of deferred tax at the Maloney site). We have continued to benefit from Research and Development tax credits in the UK. The tax position will "normalise" in the coming years, though we anticipate some on-going benefits - e.g. R&D tax credits and utilisation of China losses.

Earnings per Share (EPS): Improved for continuing operations. Substantial benefit from Aerospace disposal

Adjusted diluted earnings per share for continuing operations improved to 1.0p from a loss in 2015 of 0.4p. Diluted earnings per share, attributable to shareholders was 111.4p (2015:6.3p) reflecting the substantial shareholder benefit from the disposal of Aerospace

Funding and Liquidity: Balance sheet strong with Net Cash

The net cash inflow from operating activities was £7.8m (2015: £1.6m).

Net Cash (note 7) at year end stood at £51.0m (2015: Net indebtedness: £5.9m gearing: 17%) following the disposal of Aerospace just prior to the year end and prior to payment of costs.

Dividend: steady progress

The Board again voted to underline our progressive dividend policy - despite the disposal - and we are pleased to be able to recommend an improved final dividend of 2.1 pence per share (2015: 2.0 pence per share). We intend to continue on this progressive path, subject to the outcome of acquisition activities in the coming years. The dividend will be paid on 9 December 2016, to shareholders on the register at 28 October 2016.

Full details of the tender offer will be announced shortly. However, it is expected that shareholders who participate in the tender offer will still receive the final dividend.

People

With the sale of Sigma, Mark Johnson, MD of Sigma and his senior team departed from Avingtrans, as part of the disposal. We wish them well with their plans to develop Sigma under new ownership.

Good governance dictates that the non-executive directors should be replaced periodically. Jeremy Hamer has decided that the time is now right for him to retire from the Avingtrans Board. Therefore, Jeremy will stand down from the Board at the AGM in November. He will be replaced as Audit Committee Chair by Les Thomas. Jeremy has been a stalwart supporter of the business whose wise counsel has been invaluable in the development of the Group through both good and difficult times. The Board would like to thank Jeremy for his insightful contribution over many years and wish him the very best for the future.

There were no other Board or top team management changes in the period, but we continued to reinforce our management team in Energy and Medical. Skills availability remains challenging, but we do not expect to be unduly constrained by any shortages and we continue to invest in skills - e.g. through apprenticeships, notably at our training centre at Chatteris. Indeed, a recent event at Chatteris celebrated the 100th year of apprentice intake for that business - a proud record.

Outlook

The group is a niche engineering market leader in the Energy, Medical and Industrial sectors. The oil price shock showed that we can cope well with downturns and the successful sale of Sigma shows investors that we can be trusted to produce excellent returns and to deliver the proceeds back to shareholders. We will continue to be hard-nosed about delivering value and we are not afraid to sell and return capital, if the timing is right.

Our strategy continues to produce significant new business wins that support our results and provide good visibility of longer term earnings - e.g. the contract with EDF, won recently. We have an excellent customer base which we can build upon and differentiated product niches to exploit. We are now very well placed to benefit from further market consolidation.

The Sigma sale underlined our intention to build shareholder value through targeted merger and acquisition activity. Although we cannot state that this will result in any further transactions during the current financial period, we will vigorously pursue further opportunities to enhance long-term value.

Metalcraft is a clear leader in its chosen niche markets, providing customers with consistent quality as part of a world class supplier journey. Our remaining Chinese presence is providing a crucial competitive advantage. Investors are asked to endorse our strategy and join us in the next phase of our development.

With attractive structural growth markets and durable customer relationships, we remain cautiously confident about the future of Avingtrans. Future acquisition efforts will be conducted rigorously, with an underpinning ethos that any deal should be for the benefit of all stakeholders and should build sustainable long-term value.

Roger McDowell	Steve McQuillan	Stephen King
Chairman	Chief Executive Officer	Chief Financial Officer
26 September 2016	26 September 2016	26 September 2016

Consolidated Income Statement for the year ended 31 May 2016
	Note	2016	2015
		£'000	£'000
Revenue	1	21,177	22,557
Cost of sales		(18,028)	(20,134)
Gross profit		3,149	2,423
Distribution costs		(699)	(792)
Share based payment expense		(21)	(26)
Net proceeds from property disposal		446	-
Restructuring costs		(272)	(195)
Start up costs - China		-	(450)
Other administrative expenses		(2,830)	(2,192)
Total administrative expenses		(2,677)	(2,863)
Operating loss	1	(227)	(1,232)
Finance income		554	1
Finance costs		(82)	(92)
Profit/(loss) before taxation		245	(1,323)
Taxation	3	175	540
Profit/(loss) after taxation from continuing operations		420	(783)
Profit after taxation from discontinued operations	6	30,716	2,554
Profit for the financial year attributable to equity shareholders		31,136	1,771
Earnings per share:
From continuing operations
- Basic	4	1.5p	(2.8)p
- Diluted	4	1.5p	(2.8)p
From continuing and discontinued operations
- Basic	4	112.3p	6.4p
- Diluted	4	111.4p	6.3p

Consolidated statement of Comprehensive income	2015		2014
	£'000		£'000
Profit for the year	31,136		1,771
Other comprehensive income for the year, net of tax:
Items that may/will subsequently be reclassified to profit or loss
Exchange differences on translation of foreign operations	(283)		395
Exchange differences recycled on disposal of subsidiary undertakings           6	477		-
Total comprehensive income for the year  attributable to equity shareholders	31,330		2,166

Consolidated statement of changes in equity at 31 May 2016
	Share  capital	Share  premium account	Capital redemp- tion  reserve	Merger  reserve	Trans- lation  reserve	Other  reserves	Invest-ment in own shares	Retained  earnings	Total
	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
At 1 June 2014	1,379	10,818	814	402	(597)	180	(1,000)	20,659	32,655
Ordinary shares issued	6	55	-	-	-	-	-	-	61
Dividends paid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	(740)	(740)
Share-based payments	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	43	43
Transactions with owners	6	55	-	-	-	-	-	(697)	(636)
Profit for the year	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1,771	1,771
Other comprehensive income
Exchange loss	-	-	-	-	395	-	-	-	395
Total comprehensive income for the year	-	-	-	-	395	-	-	1,771	2,166
Balance at 31 May 2015	1,385	10,873	814	402	(202)	180	(1,000)	21,733	34,185
At 1 June 2015	1,385	10,873	814	402	(202)	180	(1,000)	21,733	34,185
Ordinary shares issued	2	30	-	-	-	-	-	-	32
Dividends paid	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	(830)	(830)
Transfer on disposal	-	-	-	(402)	-	-	-	402	-
Share-based payments	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	36	36
Transactions with owners	2	30	-	(402)	-	-	-	(392)	(762)
Profit for the year	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	31,136	31,136
Other comprehensive income
Exchange gain	-	-	-	-	(283)	-	-	-	(283)
Recycled on disposal of subsidiary undertakings	-	-	-	-	477	-	-	-	477
Total comprehensive income for the year	-	-	-	-	194	-	-	31,136	31,130
Balance at 31 May 2016	1,387	10,903	814	-	(8)	180	(1,000)	52,477	64,753

Consolidated Balance Sheet at 31 May 2016
		2016	2015
		£'000	£'000
Non current assets
Goodwill		4,550	9,557
Other intangible assets		930	3,442
Property, plant and equipment		4,668	11,861
Deferred tax		6	64
Available for sale financial assets		-	-
		10,154	24,924
Current assets
Inventories		3,046	10,733
Trade and other receivables : amounts falling due within one year		6,141	19,030
Trade and other receivables : amounts falling due after one year		1,450	-
Current tax asset		85	277
Cash and cash equivalents		56,503	6,337
		67,225	36,377
Assets held for sale		-	631
Total assets		77,379	61,932
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables		(6,908)	(14,338)
Obligations under finance leases		(295)	(695)
Borrowings		(3,911)	(8,357)
Current tax liabilities		(129)	(334)
Total current liabilities		(11,243)	(23,724)
Non current liabilities
Borrowings		(1,075)	(2,434)
Obligations under finance leases		(176)	(765)
Deferred tax		(132)	(824)
Total non-current liabilities		(1,383)	(4,023)
Total liabilities		(12,626)	(27,747)
Net assets		64,753	34,185
Equity
Share capital		1,387	1,385
Share premium account		10,903	10,873
Capital redemption reserve		814	814
Merger reserve		-	402
Translation reserve		(8)	(202)
Other reserves		180	180
Investment in own shares		(1,000)	(1,000)
Retained earnings		52,477	21,733
Total equity attributable to equity holders of the parent		64,753	34,185

Consolidated Cash Flow Statement for the year ended 31 May 2016
	Note	2016	2015
		£'000	£'000
Operating activities
Cash flows from operating activities		7,885	1,832
Finance costs paid		(146)	(213)
Income tax repaid		52	27
Net cash inflow from operating activities		7,791	1,646
Investing activities
Acquisition of subsidiary undertakings , net of cash acquired	5	(3,500)	(1,137)
Disposal of subsidiary undertakings, net of cash	6	53,677	-
Finance income		554	1
Purchase of intangible assets		(766)	(1,582)
Purchase of property, plant and equipment		(1,062)	(832)
Proceeds from sale of intangible assets		9	-
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment		1,319	103
Net cash generated/(used) by in investing activities		50,231	(3,447)
Financing activities
Equity dividends paid		(830)	(740)
Repayments of bank loans		(4,156)	(440)
Repayments of obligations under finance leases		(1,176)	(901)
Proceeds from issue of ordinary shares		32	61
Borrowings raised		1,651	1,875
Net cash outflow from financing activities		(4,479)	(145)
Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents		53,543	(1,946)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of year		(361)	1,428
Effect of foreign exchange rate changes on cash		(259)	157
Cash and cash equivalents at end of year		52,923	(361)

Cash flows from operating activities: for the year ended 31 May 2016
	2016	2015
	£'000	£'000
Continuing operations
Profit/(loss) before income tax from continuing operations	245	(1,323)
Profit before income tax from discontinued operations	3,878	3,194
Adjustments for:
Depreciation	1,520	1,438
Amortisation of intangible assets	983	831
Profit on disposal of property, plant and equipment	(489)	(102)
Finance income	(554)	(1)
Finance expenses	146	212
Research and Development Expenditure Credit	(168)	(235)
Share based payment charge	36	43
Bargain purchase on acquisition (note 5)	(172)	-
Changes in working capital
(Increase)/decrease in inventories	(2,327)	1,128
Increase trade and other receivables	(556)	(1,192)
Increase/(decrease) in trade and other payables	5,339	(1,477)
Decrease in provisions	-	(689)
Other non cash changes	4	5
Cashflows from operating activities	7,885	1,832

Notes to the Preliminary Statement

31 May 2016

1. Segmental analysis

Year ended 31 May 2016			Energy  and  Medical	Unallocated  Central  Items	Total
			£'000	£'000	£'000
Revenue			21,177	-	21,177
Operating profit/(loss)			59	(286)	(227)
Net finance costs					472
Taxation					175
Profit after tax					420
Segment non-current assets			10,154	-	10,154
Segment assets			20,427	56,952	77,379
Segment liabilities			(7,952)	(4,674)	(12,626)
Net assets			12,475	52,278	64,753
Non-current asset additions
Intangible assets			330	-	330
Tangible assets			430	-	430
			760	-	760

Year ended 31 May 2015		Discontinued Operations	Energy  and  Medical	Unallocated  Central  items	Total
		£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
Revenue			22,557	-	22,557
Operating loss			(743)	(489)	(1,232)
Net finance costs					(91)
Taxation					540
Profit after tax					(783)
Segment non-current assets		14,619	10,304	-	24,924
Segment assets		35,680	22,113	4,139	61,932
Segment liabilities		(13,064)	(11,871)	(2,812)	(27,747)
Net assets		22,616	10,242	1,327	34,185
Non-current asset additions
Intangible assets		1,232	350	-	1,582
Tangible assets		764	422	-	1,186
		1,996	772	-	2,768

Notes to the Preliminary Statement (continued)

31 May 2016

Geographical

		2016	2015	2016	2015
		Revenue	Revenue	Non-current assets	Non-current Assets
		£'000	£'000	£'000	£'000
United Kingdom		16,027	19,375	8,628	21,388
Europe		511	545	-	-
North America		1	37	-	-
Rest of World		5,387	3,150	1,528	3,536
Eliminations		(749)	(550)	-	-
		21,177	22,557	10,154	24,924

The Group had Energy & Medical revenue of £6,977,000 and £2,284,000 (2015: £7,228,000) with single external customers under common control, which each represent more than 10% of the Group's revenue.

2. Adjusted Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation 

	2016	2015
	£'000	£'000
Profit/(loss) before tax from continuing operations	245	(1,323)
Share based payment expense	21	26
Restructuring costs	272	195
Profit on disposal of property	(446)	-
Start up costs - China	-	450
Adjusted profit before tax	92	(652)
Finance income	(554)	(1)
Finance cost	82	92
Adjusted Earnings before interest, tax and amortisation from business combinations  ('EBITA')	(380)	(561)
Depreciation	505	573
Amortisation of other intangible assets	229	288
Adjusted Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation ('EBITDA')	354	300

The Directors believe that the above adjusted earnings are a more appropriate reflection of the Group performance.

3. Taxation

	2016	2015
	£'000	£'000
Current tax	(63)	(360)
Deferred tax	(112)	(180)
	(175)	(540)

Notes to the Preliminary Statement (continued)

31   May 2016

4. Earnings per ordinary share

	2016	2015
	Number	Number
Weighted average number of shares - basic	27,725,452	27,643,480
Share option adjustment	230,934	343,457
Weighted average number of shares - diluted	27,956,384	27,986,937
	2016	2015
	£'000	£'000
Earnings/(loss) from continuing operations	420	(783)
Share-based payments	21	26
Restructuring costs	272	195
Start up costs - China	-	450
Profit on disposal of property	(446)	-
Adjusted earnings/(loss) attributable to shareholders	267	(112)
Basic earnings per share	1.5p	(2.8)p
Adjusted basic earnings per share	1.0p	(0.4)p
Diluted earnings per share	1.5p	(2.8)p
Adjusted diluted earnings per share	1.0p	(0.4)p
Earnings from discontinued operations	30,716	2,554
Basic earnings per share	110.8p	9.2p
Diluted earnings per share	109.9p	9.2p
Earnings attributable to shareholders	31,136	1,771
Basic earnings per share	112.3p	6.4p
Diluted earnings per share	111.4p	6.3p

Notes to the Preliminary Statement (continued)                                                

31 May 2016

5. Acquisitions

Business combination - Rolls-Royce Pipe Manufacturing

On 4 March 2016 the group acquired the trade and certain business assets and liabilities relating to the manufacture of aerospace components of Rolls Royce Nuneaton and 100 percent of the issued share capital of Hartshill Ventures Limited. The acquisition was made to enhance the Group's position in the aerospace market. The provisional net assets at the date of acquisition were as follows:

Fair value of assets and liabilities acquired		£'000
Property, plant and equipment		1,181
Inventories		2,625
Trade and other receivables		596
Cash and cash equivalents		634
Trade and other payables		(465)
Provisions		(265)
Net assets		4,306
Intangibles assets identified		-
Goodwill		-
		4,306
Fair value of consideration transferred:
Cash		4,134
Consideration		4,134
Cash acquired		(634)
Acquisition costs charged to expenses		12
Net cash paid relating to the acquisition		3,512

Management did not identify any intangible assets on acquisition of this business.

Acquisition costs arising from this transaction of £12,000 have been included in administration expenses included in discontinued operations.

The gain arising on the bargain purchase is £172k which had been credited within the result for discontinued operations within the consolidated income statement.

The Directors do not have access to the information to disclose the revenue and profit/ loss since acquisition.

The trade and assets from this acquisition were subsequently part of the Aerospace disposal on 27 May 2016.

Business combination - Sigma Swadlincote

On 11 August 2014 the group acquired the trade and certain business assets and liabilities relating to the manufacture of aerospace components of RMDG Aerospace Ltd for £1,137,000.

Notes to the Preliminary Statement (continued)

31 May 2016

6. Disposals - Aerospace Division

On 27 May 2016 the Group disposed of its Aerospace division (comprising Sigma Precision Components UK Limited, Sigma Precision Components Limited, C & H Precision Finishers Limited, Sigma Components (Derby) Limited, Sigma Components (Farnborough) Limited and Hartshill Ventures Limited, the net assets and liabilities at the date of disposal were as follows:

		£'000
Goodwill		5,007
Other intangible assets		2,286
Property, plant and equipment		7,704
Inventories		12,636
Trade and other receivables		13,115
Cash and cash equivalents		583
Trade and other payables		(13,764)
Obligations under finance lease		-
Borrowings		-
Current tax liabilities		(739)
Provisions		(265)
Deferred tax		(326)
Net assets disposed		26,237
Consideration		65,000
Working capital adjustment		(1,400)
Debt adjustment		(4,944)
Cash disposed of		(583)
		58,073
Disposals costs		(4,396)
Net cash received relating to acquisition		53,677
Cash proceeds		53,677
Adjust for cash disposed		583
Net assets disposed		(26,237)
Recycling of foreign exchange translation reserves and other non-cash adjustment		(477)
Profit on disposal		27,546

Included in the above profit on disposal is £477,000 of foreign exchange translation reserves recycled on disposal of the Aerospace division.

Included in Consideration is a retention of £1,450,000 held in escrow until 30 September 2017.

Notes to the Preliminary Statement (continued)                                                

31 May 2016

Disposals - Aerospace Division (continued)

Discontinued Operations

The results prior to the disposal on 27 May 2016 for the discontinued operations included in the consolidated income statement were:

	2016	2015
	£'000	£'000
Revenue	38,401	35,262
Operating profit	3,942	3,314
Interest	(64)	(120)
Profit before taxation	3,878	3,194
Taxation	(708)	(640)
Profit on disposal of discontinued operations	27,546	-
Profit after tax from discontinued operations	30,716	2,554

The Aerospace division contributed the following to the Group's cashflows:

	2016	2015
	£'000	£'000
Operating cashflows	9,141	2,019
Investing activities	(4,503)	(2,694)
Financing activities	(1,474)	(1,666)

7. Net cash/(debt) and gearing

The gearing ratio at the year-end is as follows:	2015	2015
	£'000	£'000
Debt	(5,457)	(12,251)
Cash and cash equivalents	56,503	6,337
Net cash/(debt)	51,046	(5,914)
Equity	64,753	34,185
Net cash/(debt) to equity ratio	78.8%	(17.3)%

8. Preliminary statement and basis of preparation

This preliminary statement, which has been agreed with the auditors, was approved by the Board on 26 September 2016. It is not the Group's statutory accounts within the meaning of Section 434 of the Companies Act 2006.

The statutory accounts for the two years ended 31 May 2016 and 2015 received audit reports which were unqualified and did not contain statements under s498(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006. The statutory accounts for the year ended 31 May 2015 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies but the 31 May 2016 accounts have not yet been filed.

The Company's financial statements have been prepared and approved by the directors in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) as adopted by the European Union and those parts of the Companies Act 2006 that apply to companies reporting under IFRS. The principal accounting policies adopted by the company, which remain unchanged, are set out in the statutory financial statements for the year ended 31 May 2016.

Notes to the Preliminary Statement (continued)

31 May 2016

9. Annual report and Accounts

The Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 May 2016 will be available on the Group's website www.avingtrans.plc.uk on or around 3 October 2016.  Further copies will be available from the Avingtrans' registered office:

Chatteris Business Park, Chatteris, Cambridgeshire PE16 6SA.

10. Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the Group will be held at Shakespeare Martineau LLP, No1 Colmore Square, Birmingham, B4 6AA on 8 November 2016 at 11:00am

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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