12 October 2011 – trading update
Trading from 1 July to 11 October has been broadly in line with expectations with constraints on government spending being a feature, notably in the US where there is considerable uncertainty on the level of defence spending. Recent severe flooding on the East Coast of the US has caused serious damage at its Johnson City electronics facility and the group is assessing the implications of this. Although some sales may be deferred to next year as a result, this is not expected to be material to this year’s earnings, which are expected to be similar to last year’s restated figure. At the current level the shares remain a BUY.