Print   

23 January 2009

Morson Group PLC 

('Morson' or the 'Group')

Pre-Close Trading update

Morson, the UK's leading provider of technical engineering personnel and project design solutions, provides the following trading update prior to entering into its closed period ahead of the publication of its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2008. The Group intends to announce its preliminary results in the week commencing 30 March 2009.  

The Group anticipates that profit before amortisation, exceptional charges and tax for the year to 31 December 2008 will be in line with market expectations.   The results for this period will, in accordance with IFRS, include a non-cash exceptional financing cost relating to the Group's hedging arrangements which will amount to approximately £1.6m.  

Morson continues to deliver a consistently strong performance year on year.  The resilience of the Group's business model arises from its focus on long term framework agreements in a broad spread of sectors. These include aerospace and defence, nuclear and power and rail.  These sectors benefit from a variety of growth drivers that stimulate the demand for Morson's services and make Morson less vulnerable to the effects of any one sector.

The Board consider that the outlook for Morson's trading environment continues to be challenging but encouraging despite the current economic climate and remain confident of the Group's ability to deliver further growth in the medium and long term.

For Further Information, Please Contact:

Morson Group
Ged Mason, Chief Executive	+44(0)161 707 1516
Paul Gilmour, Finance Director
Kevin Gorton, Managing Director
Brewin Dolphin (NOMAD)
Matt Davis	+44(0)845 213 4848
Alison Barrow
Buchanan Communications
Diane Stewart	+44(0)20 7466 5000
Isabel Podda

ENDS

                         

Notes to editors

Morson is the UK's leading provider of technical engineering personnel and project design solutions, supplying over 9,000 highly skilled white collar personnel to the aerospace and defence, nuclear and power, rail and other technical industries.

Established in 1969 Morson is the largest and one of the longest established technical staffing companies in the UK. The Group currently provides personnel on long term assignments for some well known major infrastructure/defence projects. These include the construction of Heathrow Terminal 5, the development of the Joint Striker Fighter, rail maintenance and upgrades for Network Rail and Metronet and nuclear design, decommissioning and asset improvement as well as the provision of safety personnel to London underground network.

ENDTSTBTMLTMMJTBJL