REG-Avingtrans PLC: Final Results

Wednesday 9 September 2009

Avingtrans plc

("Avingtrans" or the "Group")

Final Results for the Year Ended 31 May 2009

Avingtrans plc (AIM:AVG), which designs, manufactures and supplies critical
components and associated services to the energy, medical, industrial and
global aerospace sectors, today announces its results for the twelve months
ended 31 May 2009.

Financial Highlights

* Turnover decreased by 8.9% to £37.6m (2008: £41.2m)

* Gross profit margin increased to 27.0% (2008: 26.5%)

* PBT1 increased to £2.0m (2008: £1.8m)

* Fully diluted, adjusted2 EPS of 6.2 pence per share (2008: 7.4 pence per share)

* Continued new investment of £2.4m in the business during the period

* Gearing reduced to 48.2% (2008: 66.8%)

1 - profit before tax adjusted to add back amortisation

2 - fully diluted earnings per share adjusted to add back amortisation and
exceptional items

Operating highlights

* New long term agreement signed with biggest Aerospace customer

* Warranty claim settled3 with former owners of B&D Patterns for £1.25m

* Major £4m Oil & Gas project successfully completed - further prospects in sight

* Metalcraft signed Letter of Intent with Cummins for supply of generator frames

* Contract extension signed with Siemens Healthcare for MRI equipment

* Jena-Tec won first major order from China - Asian market developing well

3 - post 31 May 2009

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

"It has been a very challenging 12 months for Avingtrans. Our performance was,
nonetheless, resilient in turbulent conditions, due to the inherent strength in
the core businesses and the actions taken by management to stabilise the Group.
I'm pleased, therefore, to report a performance in line with market
expectations. However, we expect that trading conditions will remain tough for
the foreseeable future, so steady progress is our aim over the next year."

Contacts:

Avingtrans plc
Tel. 01159 499 020
Steve McQuillan, CEO
Stephen King, Finance Director

KBC Peel Hunt Ltd
Tel. 020 7418 8900
Richard Kauffer, Corporate Finance
Matthew Tyler, Corporate Broking

Hansard Group
Tel. 020 7245 1100
Adam Reynolds
John Bick

About Avingtrans (www.avingtrans.plc.uk)

Avingtrans plc is engaged in the provision of highly engineered components and
services to the energy, medical, scientific and research communities, traffic
management, automation, machinery and aerospace industries worldwide. Organized
in three business segments:

Aerospace, engaged in the manufacture of rigid pipe assemblies and prismatic
components for aero engines and precision finishing of aircraft components;

Energy and Medical, engaged in the manufacture of machined and fabricated
pressure and vacuum vessels and components for the energy, medical, science and
research communities and design and manufacture of fabricated poles and
cabinets for roadside safety cameras and rail track signalling; and

Industrial products, engaged in the design, manufacture, distribution and
service of precision ballscrews, spindles and related linear and rotary
products servicing the original equipment and after markets in global industry.

2009 Preliminary statement

Chairman's statement

As the full impact of the financial downturn became apparent, we were forced to
revise down our view of performance earlier this year. Therefore, I'm pleased
to report that, economic gale force winds notwithstanding, we have been able to
meet those market expectations and sustain our previous year's performance,
despite reduced turnover. This is no mean feat in the current conditions,
however, we are far from complacent and further improvement is required.

Overall, it's a shame that the improvements in underlying efficiency the team
at Avingtrans have worked so hard for should be overshadowed by the state of
the global economy and its impact on the Group. Market conditions continue to
be challenging, resulting in the mixed trading results in the year to 31 May
2009. Despite this, we continue to make operational improvements that we expect
to bear fruit as the tide turns and markets pick up. The recovery cycle will be
variable across our three divisions and dependent on the activity of our blue
chip OEM customer base and our efforts in winning new business. The quality of
this base continues to give us confidence that we are well-placed when the
storm moderates.

As anticipated, our second half performance was substantially better than in
the first half, though Group revenues are down £3.7m year on year, due to a
slowdown in orders. A suite of lean manufacturing tools and cost cutting
measures had to be deployed aggressively to keep us on an even keel as markets
declined. In addition to our process change programme, we implemented a number
of tactical measures - eg: headcount reductions, short time working and salary
reductions, where appropriate (including at Board level). The underlying
softness in our Order Book in the second half of the year has continued into
the new financial year. However, the pace of decline has slowed and we would
expect to see modest recovery in the second half. Our pipeline of opportunities
continues to develop, for example with new Aerospace business emerging from GE,
new Industrial business from Eon and new Energy business with Cummins, amongst
others.

The strength of the team has stood us in good stead this year. We have
anticipated changes largely effectively, we're not scared to make tough
decisions and we're pragmatic enough to go for the best available course
through tricky waters, as they arise, determined to get the best shareholder
return.

We believe our strategy of building market-leading niche positions in our
defined market sectors is sound and this stance has been vindicated through the
downturn. Customers are commenting positively on our service and delivery
performance, backed by value for money and a deepening quality ethic. Further
work on the divisional strategies during this year has already brought new
business and some exciting future growth prospects. Whilst thoughts of M&A
activity have been subdued by the downturn, we continue to believe that
opportunities for complimentary acquisitions will present themselves as the
world economy rejuvenates. Executing our strategy will enable us to deliver
strong value growth to our shareholders and our market positions will allow us
to come out of the current cycle stronger than many of our competitors.

To summarise, my guarded optimism concerning our prospects at the half year
remains intact, if slightly battered by events and I look forward to steady
improvement, as the storm moderates and our markets recover.

As ever, improvements in our performance depend upon our people and it is their
dedication, skill and sheer hard work that have brought us through this
difficult period thus far. I would like once again to thank them wholeheartedly
for their continuing commitment to Avingtrans.

R S McDowell
Chairman
9 September 2009

Business Review

Group Performance

Turnover: Full year Group revenue was 9% less than the prior year, coming in at
£37.6m (2008: £41.2m). The decrease was mainly down to anticipated year on year
reductions at Metalcraft associated with the reduced volume of business from
Siemens and reduced volumes at Crown, pending approvals of the new SmartPoleTM
product. The only other area to suffer a significant decline in sales was
Aerospace, where sales to a major OEM were affected by changes in global market
conditions.

Profit: Notwithstanding the decline in turnover, our gross profit margins held
up well at 27% (2008: 26%) and operating profit was only modestly down at £2.4m
(2008: £2.6m), supported both by project completions and aggressive cost
cutting action in response to demand reductions. Profit before tax and
amortisation was actually up year on year to £2.0m (2008: £1.8m) and EBITDA was
sustained at the previous level of £4.1m (2008: £4.1m).

Earnings Per Share (EPS): Adjusted diluted earnings per share, for the period
ending 31 May 2009, was 6.2p (2008: 7.4p) based on 21.9m (diluted weighted
average) shares following the placing of 7m shares in October 2008 and the
issue of a further 850,000 shares in respect of part of the consideration for a
further 18.2% of the issued share capital of Sigma.

Funding and Liquidity: The net cash flow from operations was just £0.4m (2008:
£2.8m), but we note that working capital of £1.6m was still tied up in
Metalcraft's floating production system project at year end, now complete. Net
indebtedness at year end was £10.1m, £0.7m lower than at the prior year end
(2008: £10.8m). Balance sheet gearing was 48.2%, down from 66.8% at 31 May
2008. In addition, continued investment in the business of £2.4m shows our long
term confidence in our position going forward.

Taxation: The effective rate of tax was 38.3% (2008: 32.4%). As reported in the
2008 Annual Report, the withdrawal of industrial building allowances gave rise
to an additional tax charge of £382k for the year ending 31 May 2009. This
exceptional charge has been recognised in full. This was partly offset by £240k
of claims for R&D tax credits, but still resulted in a greater than would be
normally expected tax charge.

Dividend: Whilst the Board supports a progressive dividend policy, we continue
to believe that it is prudent to preserve cash in the business at present and,
consequently, recommend that no final dividend should be paid (2008: 0.75p per
share). Looking forward, the Board will keep the dividend position under
review, taking account of the on-going changes in trading position in our
markets.

Strategy

Avingtrans is a precision engineering group, operating in differentiated niches
in the supply chains of many of the world's best known OEMs. Our strategy of
building market-leading positions in our defined sectors is robust and
beginning to bear fruit. The overall strategic thrust focuses on three elements
across all divisions:

* Customers: developing our key accounts and partnering or acquiring assets
to provide customers with integrated product and service offerings

* Channels: developing new channel partners in new territories and markets
with existing product capabilities

* Capabilities: strengthening core group know-how in design and manufacturing
to reduce costs and deepen our value added to our customers.

As evidence of this strategic direction, during the past financial year, we
have:

* Secured new long term contracts with key customers in each division - eg
with a major Medical OEM in the Energy and Medical division.

* Developed new markets in Asia and North America with new partners - eg for
Industrial Products in China.

* Implemented projects to increase efficiency and reduce costs - eg lean
manufacturing initiatives in Aerospace leading to increased business with a
major OEM.

A particular strategic focus for all of our divisions is the development of the
business potential in China. We continue to invest cautiously in the Aerospace
business that we have already based there and the first real investments have
commenced for Metalcraft in the same geographic region. The Industrial Products
division has, thus far, limited itself to new channel partners and customers in
China, though we believe that wider opportunities exist to develop the linear
motion market.

Operations

Energy and Medical

The Energy and Medical Division has seen a reduction in overall business this
year, as the Siemens contract with Metalcraft stabilised at a lower level than
hitherto. We successfully concluded negotiations with Siemens concerning new
long term contract terms and conditions, including a new agreement on pricing,
which has now been extended to October 2010. Positive discussions continue on
future business. The net 16% reduction in turnover in the division - driven by
reductions from Siemens and the new product introduction at Crown - hides
growth in other sectors. We were able to improve margins at Metalcraft, despite
the reduction in medical business, by tight cost control and by making the most
of the replacement business that we won last year, some examples of which
follow.

In the medical arena, an initial order for Proton Therapy equipment secured
early in the year has been followed by an agreement to provide further systems.

We are making good progress in the energy sector, with a number of exciting
prospects. Chief amongst these is our developing relationship with Cummins to
produce generator frames for the Industrial Gas Turbine market. We expect this
to become a significant business stream for Metalcraft over the next few years,
with deliveries to commence during the next twelve months. Nuclear sector
prospects are also promising, with positive indications on repeat nuclear
decommissioning and replacement reprocessing business.

Our large scale (£4m) Oil and Gas project was largely completed by year end and
has since been signed off by the customer. The delivery of this very successful
project bodes well for future energy projects and we are quoting on further
projects as a result.

In the Marine sector, Metalcraft's completion of four diving bells for UK
customers and two submersible pressure hulls led to another commercial diving
contract, now under construction.

The team at Metalcraft also showed great adaptability in winning an order for
architectural steel worth just less than £1m, which will be completed during Q1
/Q2 of the new financial year.

Strategically, we made the first investments for our Metalcraft China facility
and we expect to commence production there during 2009. Several customers have
expressed interest in our plans and discussions are on-going regarding new
business that we will base in Chengdu.

For Crown International, order volumes for camera poles were very subdued in
the past 12 months, as OEMs minimised stock positions in anticipation of
standardising on the new SmartPoleTM design. Delays in Home Office Approvals
further impacted sales, but we have now received first orders for the new poles
from a number of OEMs, including first orders from Siemens, so order levels
should begin to replenish.

Crown also received a design contract from Balfour Beatty for the design of a
new concept motorway variable signage pole, which we expect to lead to material
orders in the coming year.

Industrial Products

Industrial Products had a very good first half year, but saw a weakening of
demand over the second half as market conditions deteriorated worldwide.
Nonetheless, with revenues up by 16% compared with last year, this was still a
very successful year for Jena-Tec, with the increase in business also carrying
through to improved margins. The division is delivering its strategy of
developing niche, high-precision engineered components, coupled with a
diversification of its product strategy to include factored products and
related equipment.

We responded to the market slowdown in the second half with headcount
reductions and cost cutting to right size the operations for current
conditions. These were largely successful in sustaining business performance to
our financial year end.

Jena-Tec has successfully opened up new sales channels in linear motion and
developed new routes to market in China, USA, Korea and India, amongst others,
with large new orders being won, eg in China, as previously announced. Our
efforts to reduce our cost base by sourcing parts from India and China have
also been successful and we will continue to expand on this initiative.

The acquisition of the trade and assets of the Moss Group in February 2009
provides access to the servicing and repair aftermarket and specialist machine
attachments that compliment the division's high precision product range. We
have already seen some new orders in this area and future prospects are bright.

The global machine tools market remains sluggish and this will slow our
development in FY10, though we will seek to counter this with wider product
offerings in linear motion and actuation solutions, directly and in conjunction
with OEM partners.

Aerospace

The Aerospace Division has had a disappointing year overall from a financial
point of view, though we can take positives out of the progress made in each
business. The decline in civil aerospace markets is quite severe from a supply
chain perspective, with each of the businesses suffering from delays and cuts
to programme volumes in various ways, resulting in an overall decline in
turnover of 13%. To improve efficiency and to manage this decline, the division
has cut costs accordingly, though this was not enough to avoid a small loss in
the year, allowing for the fact that on-going material investment in Sigma,
China continues.

The decline in global aerospace markets has put a brake on our activities in
China, with all customers significantly delaying orders and deliveries for new
programmes that had been scheduled to commence in volume by now. As a result
Sigma has not yet reached break-even as expected, though we are still making
progress - just more slowly than we previously planned. Strong support for our
Chinese capability continues to be expressed by major aerospace customers and
we have introduced over 400 new parts to date for customers. We believe that
the order flow will still allow us to achieve profitability during the new
financial year. During the year, we completed a deal to acquire most of the
remaining equity in Sigma and settle future deferred consideration obligations.

B&D Patterns has worked hard on improving quality and delivery performance this
year and this has been underpinned by a new long term agreement with their
biggest customer. However, global aerospace market conditions have meant that
the business has run hard to stand still, with sharp headcount reductions, site
consolidation and cost cutting measures all being rolled out to maintain our
position. Conversely, we made excellent progress in our lean manufacturing
deployment, as recognised by a 60% increase in business from one key customer
and we completed the certification of a new fastener product range in record
time, securing £0.5m of initial orders in the process.

After year end, in July 2009, we came to an agreement in our favour with the
former owners of B&D to settle our on-going warranty claim for £1.25m,
inclusive of costs.

Although C&H had a reasonable year overall, they also saw some softening in
demand, as the aerospace supply chain adjusted to lighter forward order books
and this necessitated headcount reductions and tight cost control. The new C&H
facility in Cheltenham ramped up capacity successfully, providing a range of
polishing services, principally to Messier Dowty at present.

People

We were delighted to welcome Steve McQuillan as CEO to the Board in October
2008. This allowed Roger McDowell to move permanently into the post of
Non-executive Chairman. Post year end, we have further strengthened the Board
with the addition of Dr Graham Thornton, as a Non-executive Director, from
September 2009. Graham's considerable experience across a number of pertinent
sectors will add greatly to the Board's strength.

We also strengthened the Divisional senior management teams in the three
divisions, as we seek to improve our long term management capability across all
the businesses. The introduction of the standard CSOP share option scheme
recently announced will allow us to align rewards for our key people with the
interests of shareholders.

Although the recession has temporarily increased the availability of skilled
engineering and production staff, we believe that a structural shortage in
these skills still exists in the UK. Therefore, Metalcraft was delighted to be
chosen to host the Fenland Engineering School of Excellence at Chatteris, which
will enable us to grow and access young technical talent as it develops in this
area.

Outlook

Given on-going global economic weakness, risks of reduced demand in the
Aerospace and Industrial Products divisions remain prevalent. Actions that we
took to cut costs were very important to insulate ourselves to some degree from
the market changes that are still taking place. The markets for our Energy and
Medical division have also been affected and, thus, they have also taken cost
reduction actions to adjust to changing sector conditions as required.

Whilst we do not expect there to be a swift recovery in any of our major
markets, the strategic development work that we have undertaken will help us to
take advantage of any fragile improvements in market conditions by using our
positions to win new business, both with existing customers and with new
accounts. Therefore, we expect steady improvement in our financial performance
for the coming year, unless there is further material deterioration in market
conditions.

Our strategy to focus on differentiated highly engineered product niches with
long term growth and sustainable competitive advantage, thus offering a degree
of protection to cyclical market weaknesses. Overall, we remain well placed to
benefit from structural changes in our markets and to grow as global industrial
markets recover.

Roger McDowell Steve McQuillan Stephen King
Chairman Chief Executive Officer Finance Director
9 September 2009 9 September 2009 9 September 2009

Consolidated Income Statement
for the year ended 31 May 2009

Year to Year to
31 May 31 May
2009 2008

£'000 £'000

Revenue 37,559 41,247

Cost of sales (27,427) (30,324)

Gross profit 10,132 10,923

Distribution costs (955) (944)

Administrative expenses (6,706) (7,249)

Operating profit before share based 2,471 2,730
payments and amortisation / impairment of
intangibles

Share based payment 88 (25)

Amortisation of intangibles from business (137) (137)
combinations

Operating profit 2,422 2,568

Finance income 2 6

Finance costs (595) (880)

Profit before taxation 1,829 1,694

Taxation (701) (549)

Profit for the financial year 1,128 1,145

Earnings per share :

From continuing operations

- Basic 5.1p 6.5p

- Diluted 5.1p 6.4p

All the above results are from continuing operations

Consolidated statement of total recognised income and expense
for the year ended 31 May 2009

Year to Year to
31 May 31 May
2009 2008

£'000 £'000

Exchange differences on translation of 338 335
foreign operations

Net movement recognised directly in equity 338 335

Profit for the financial year 1,128 1,145

Total recognised income and expense for the 1,466 1,480
year

Consolidated cash flow statement
for the year ended 31 May 2009

Note Year to Year to
31 May 31 May
2009 2008

£'000 £'000

Operating activities

Cash flows from operating activities 356 2,819

Finance costs paid (597) (902)

Income tax paid (145) (757)

Net cash (outflow)/ inflow from operating (386) 1,160
activities

Investing activities

Finance income 2 6

Acquisition of subsidiaries - (16)

Acquisition of investment - (219)

Purchase of intangible assets (420) (411)

Purchase of property, plant and equipment (2,022) (607)

Proceeds from sale of property, plant and 19 53
equipment

Proceeds from sale of investments - 19

Net cash used in investing activities (2,421) (1,175)

Financing activities

Dividends paid (132) (220)

Repayments of borrowings (642) (1,044)

Repayments of obligations under finance (1,103) (873)
leases

Proceeds from issue of ordinary shares 3,654 34

Borrowings raised 1,271 869

Net cash inflow/(outflow) from financing 3,048 (1,234)
activities

Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash 241 (1,249)
equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of (2,534) (1,302)
period

Effect of foreign exchange rate changes 38 17

Cash and cash equivalents at end of year (2,255) (2,534)

Cash generated from operations:

for the year ended 31 May 2009

Year to Year to
31 May 31 May
2009 2008

£000 £000

Continuing operations

Profit before income tax 1,829 1,694

Adjustments for:

Depreciation 1,434 1,287

Amortisation and impairment of intangible 264 227
assets

(Profit) on disposal of property, plant (9) (20)
and equipment

(Profit) on disposal /impairment of - (7)
investment

Finance income (2) (6)

Finance expense 595 880

Share based payment (credit)/charge (88) 25

Changes in working capital

(Increase) in inventories (255) (327)

(Increase)/decrease in trade and other (1,845) 1,660
receivables

(Decrease) in trade and other payables (1,584) (2,619)

Other non cash charges 17 25

Cashflows from operating activities 356 2,819

Summarised consolidated balance sheet
at 31 May 2009

2009 2008

£'000 £'000

Non current assets

Goodwill 10,242 10,242

Other intangible assets 1,941 1,784

Property, plant and equipment 11,308 10,560

Deferred tax 38 24

Available for sale financial assets 219 219

23,748 22,829

Current assets

Inventories 6,952 6,480

Trade and other receivables 8,914 6,984

Current tax asset 321 196

Cash and cash equivalents 634 548

16,821 14,208

Total assets 40,569 37,037

Current liabilities

Trade and other payables (6,323) (7,278)

Obligations under finance leases (1,247) (935)

Borrowings (3,543) (3,591)

Current tax liabilities (759) (489)

Total current liabilities (11,872) (12,293)

Non-current liabilities

Borrowings (4,264) (5,034)

Obligations under finance leases (1,729) (1,789)

Deferred tax (1,436) (1,003)

Deferred consideration (200) (750)

Total non-current liabilities (7,629) (8,576)

Total liabilities (19,501) (20,869)

Net assets 21,068 16,168

Equity

Share capital 1,274 882

Share premium account 9,534 6,272

Capital redemption reserve 814 814

Merger reserve 402 402

Translation reserve 636 298

Other reserves 180 180

Retained earnings 8,228 7,320

Total equity attributable to equity 21,068 16,168
holders of the parent

Notes to the preliminary statement

31 May 2009

1. Segmental analysis

Year ended 31 May 2009 Aerospace Energy and Industrial Unallocated Total
Medical Products Central
items

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Revenue 10,716 17,509 9,334 - 37,559

Operating (loss)/profit (73) 1,583 1,051 (139) 2,422

Net finance costs (593)

Taxation (701)

Profit after tax 1,128

Segment assets 14,917 17,058 8,250 344 40,569

Segment liabilities (5,243) (5,687) (3,323) (5,248) (19,501)

Net assets/ 9,674 11,371 4,927 (4,904) 21,068
(liabilities)

Capital expenditure 798 388 1,256 - 2,442

Depreciation and 726 552 420 - 1,698
amortisation

Year ended 31 May 2008 Aerospace Energy and Industrial Unallocated Total
Medical Products Central
items

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

Revenue 12,333 20,863 8,051 - 41,247

Operating profit/(loss) 484 1,492 808 (216) 2,568

Net finance costs (874)

Taxation (549)

Profit after tax 1,145

Segment assets 14,540 15,407 6,746 344 37,037

Segment liabilities (6,355) (6,415) (2,428) (5,671) (20,869)

Net assets/ 8,185 8,992 4,318 (5,327) 16,168
(liabilities)

Capital expenditure 411 391 216 - 1,018

Depreciation and 712 532 270 - 1,514
amortisation

Geographical segment

2009 2008 2009 2008 2009 2008

Revenue Revenue Net Net Capital Capital
assets assets expenditure expenditure

£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000

United Kingdom 29,163 31,075 16,420 11,895 1,145 647

Europe 7,829 7,954 5,397 4,908 1,058 159

North America 1,407 2,607 (417) (383) - 1

Rest of the World 616 810 (332) (252) 239 211

Eliminations (1,456) (1,199) - - - -

37,559 41,247 21,068 16,168 2,442 1,018

2. Taxation

2009 2008

£'000 £'000

Current tax 283 563

Deferred tax 418 (14)

701 549

3. Earnings per share

2009 2008

No No

Weighted average number of shares - basic 21,933,317 17,604,810

Warrant/ Share Option adjustment 6,961 174,615

Weighted average number of shares - diluted 21,940,278 17,779,425

£'000 £'000

Earnings attributable to shareholders 1,128 1,145

Share-based payments (88) 25

Amortisation of intangibles 137 137

Sigma deferred consideration release (201) -

Withdrawal of IBA's 383 -

Adjusted earnings attributable to shareholders 1,358 1,307

Basic earnings per share 5.1p 6.5p

Adjusted basic earnings per share 6.2p 7.4p

Diluted earnings per share 5.1p 6.4p

Adjusted diluted earnings per share 6.2p 7.4p

4. Preliminary statement

This preliminary statement, which has been agreed with the auditors, was
approved by the Board on 9 September 2009. It is not the Group's statutory
accounts. Statutory accounts will be sent to shareholders shortly.

The statutory accounts for the two years ended 31 May 2008 and 2007 received
audit reports which were unqualified and did not contain statements under s237
(2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985. The statutory accounts for the year ended
31 May 2008 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies but the 31 May
2009 accounts have not yet been filed.

5. Annual report and Accounts

The Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 May 2009 will be posted to
shareholders on or around 21 September 2009. Further copies will be available
from the Avingtrans' registered office:

Precision House, Derby Road, Sandiacre, Nottingham, NG10 5HU

Copies will also available on the Group's website www.avingtrans.plc.uk

6. Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the Group will be held at The Holiday Inn,
Bostocks Lane, Sandiacre, Nottingham NG10 5NL at 10.00 a.m. on 14 October 2008.

END