SEVERFIELD PLC — Management Reports 2014

Feb 14, 2014

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RNS Number : 0631A

Severfield-Rowen PLC

14 February 2014

Interim Management Statement

Severfield-Rowen Plc, the market leading structural steel group, issues its Interim Management Statement covering the period to 13 February 2014.

Current Trading

The Group's trading performance and financial position for the year continue to be in line with management expectations.

UK

The UK order book of £172 million remains stable and at a level with which management is comfortable. The UK business is showing much greater stability following the completion of the reorganisation undertaken in the last calendar year. The operational improvement programme continues to make good progress, supporting management expectations that margins will continue to recover over the next two years even without any upturn in the UK market.

The UK market continues to show signs of improvement. This is particularly evident in the pipeline of potential orders the business is seeing, though it is likely to be well into the next financial year before this starts to have any notable impact on the size or mix of the order book.

JSW Severfield Structures Ltd (India)

The Indian market continues to be difficult and is likely to remain so at least until after the forthcoming elections in May 2014. In the meantime, the focus remains on strengthening the commercial focus of the business and managing costs tightly. The order book level of £32 million remains stable, but as highlighted previously, needs to be significantly higher to maintain break-even production levels in the factory.

Outlook

The UK business continues to strengthen and perform in line with management's expectations. While India remains challenging, senior management is focused on improving the situation both commercially and operationally. Overall, the Group is ideally positioned for recovery in the UK construction market, with its improving operations, good market share and strong balance sheet.

For further information, please contact:

Severfield-Rowen Plc	Ian Lawson Chief Executive Officer	01845 577896
	Alan Dunsmore Finance Director	01845 577896
Jefferies International Limited	Simon Hardy	020 7029 8000
	Harry Nicholas	020 7029 8000
Bell Pottinger	David Rydell	020 7861 3886
	Guy Scarborough	020 7861 3870
	Will Bland	020 7861 3139

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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