AMR Armour Grp

TIDMAMR

RNS Number : 4414Y

Armour Group PLC

22 February 2013

Armour Group plc ("Armour" or the "Group")

AGM Statement

Armour Group plc, the UK's leading consumer electronics group focused on in-car communication and entertainment and home entertainment markets is holding its Annual General Meeting at 12.00 today. George Dexter, Chief Executive, will make the following statement:-

"The new financial year has started encouragingly, with the Group returning to profit at an operating level with gross profit margins improving by over two percentage points and operating costs down a further 15% on a like for like basis. Both the core divisions of Armour Automotive and Armour Home have traded profitably and in line with expectations, with Armour Home delivering a significant improvement on the prior year. In terms of funding, the Group is operating comfortably within its available facilities.

Armour Automotive has made a steady start to the new financial year, with profits broadly in line with last year. A combination of new products and good operational control has positioned the business for a strong second half of the year. In the commercial vehicle market, the new radio platform for agricultural vehicles and our driver monitoring system, which is designed to improve driver safety and fuel economy, are both generating exciting sales prospects. In addition, the recent launch of our second generation of iO branded in-vehicle music streaming and hands free solutions has created opportunities across all our sales channels, both domestically and internationally. Armour Automotive continues to be a strong business and our expectation remains for year on year growth in its operating profits in 2013.

Armour Home has made the single biggest improvement in the Group, returning to profit with a turnaround of over GBP450,000 in its operating performance after the first five months of the year. The business has continued to focus on improving gross profit margins and lowering operating costs, whilst maintaining a steady programme of new products launches. This strategy is working well and the programme of new products scheduled for launch over the coming six months is expected to further consolidate Armour Home's recovery and maintain its return to profitably.

The Group has made good progress over the past year. The return of Armour Home to profit coupled with the continued strong profitability of Armour Automotive, provide firm evidence that the actions taken by the management team to turn the Group around are working. There remains a considerable amount of work to be done in re-establishing the Group's financial performance and whilst the retail facing markets served by the Group remain fragile, there is now some positive economic forecasting for the sector that provides grounds for cautious optimism. The Board believes the Group will continue on its path of recovery and, with its much reduced cost base and improving margins, is well positioned to benefit from any wider upturn in the economic environment.

Further Details:

   George Dexter             Armour Group PLC                            Tel:   01892 502700 

John Harris

Geoff Nash finnCap Tel: 020 7220 0500

Ben Thompson

Stephen Norcross (broking)

22 February 2013

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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