TIDMSNCL

RNS Number : 7470B

Sinclair (William) Holdings PLC

08 April 2013

8 April 2013

William Sinclair Holdings PLC

('William Sinclair' or 'the Company')

Trading Update

William Sinclair, one of the UK's leading suppliers of growing media, announces a trading update ahead of the Company's interim results for the six months to 31 March 2013, which will be released on 10 June 2013.

Spring selling season

The exceptionally cold weather over the last month has resulted in a delay to the start of the important Spring selling season. The slow start was confirmed by the UK gardening industry which reported very low sales levels in March as consumers remained indoors contemplating their frozen gardens.

However, with warmer conditions forecast this week the Board has confidence that gardening activity will soon begin in earnest and that with good weather the selling season as a whole can still achieve its full potential for the Company.

The Company has previously invested in extensive infrastructure to accommodate the significant uplift in activity that occurs when the season does start. The late commencement of the season this year may mean it is compressed into a shorter period. This should favour the Company as our industry leading logistics cope better than those of some of our competitors.

Freeland Horticulture contracts

Freeland Horticulture has been awarded all the major topsoil contracts for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the legacy park at the site of the London Olympics. However, the cold weather has also affected Freeland with deliveries of its specialist top soils to this and other projects being delayed.

Ellesmere Port - Flagship site

The Company's new site at Ellesmere Port is undergoing a transformation to prepare it for future operations. This process is ongoing and the Board expects to make further announcements on the timetable over the next few months.

So far Freeland has established SuperFyba operations at the site and, following some delays, is now producing regular volumes of material. Over the next three months the production outputs at the site will double to reach the volumes previously forecast.

William Sinclair will shortly be inviting investors to visit its Ellesmere Port facility in June 2013.

Consumer demand

The Board remains confident that the horticulture industry is relatively recession resistant. Unfortunately, the exact timing of sales over the important Spring season does depend on the weather. There is now significant pent up consumer demand which the Company expects to meet as Spring finally arrives.

For further information:

www.william-sinclair.co.uk

 
 William Sinclair Holdings            Tel: 01522 537561 
  Plc 
 Peter Rush, Chief Executive 
 Peter Williams, Finance 
  Director 
 Mark Way, Corporate Communications   Tel: 07786 116991 
 
 
 WH Ireland Limited 
 Andrew Kitchingman   Tel: 0113 394 6619 
 Nick Field           Tel: 0207 220 1658

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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