News

QUIETLY OPTIMISTIC

Within the Group I am pleased to say that we are feeling quietly optimistic having reported a 6 months operating profit of just over 1million. However our optimism is less about the much hyped possible upturn in the current economic climate and more that the tough decisions that we have taken internally are starting to bear fruit. By cutting costs and headcount and continuing to win business, we have been able to deliver profit at a time when many of our competitors are struggling to stay afloat.

Moving forward we are confident that this ongoing approach will continue to work for us. We have just completed an initial review in our Automotive business that will result in further investment and we believe an improvement in trading over next 18 months.

In our Home businesses we have won considerable new business with existing customers which will come on stream over the summer and we have launched a new business area in the small office/home office furniture sector, already securing a significant amount of business with three key customers in that market.

Why are we continuing to outperform the market? I believe it is a combination of our size & we are a relatively big player in the sector and can offer security and the strong, longstanding customer relationships we work hard to maintain. Perhaps most importantly we are competitive and can add value in areas such as merchandising, design, and JIT delivery.

Whatever the answer there is no doubt that Armour is well positioned to face the challenges of the forthcoming months with a quiet confidence about the future.

by George Dexter, CEO