8 May 2002
As indicated at the time of the preliminary results, demand for the company´s products is dependent on improvement in industrial confidence, especially in the US. Some anecdotal and macroeconomic evidence points towards recovery and our orders, after a weak start to the year, show some improvement going into the second quarter. However, indications suggest that the timing of the recovery is such that, at present, we expect our performance in the year as a whole to be somewhat weaker than in 2001.
Management continues to be forceful in constraining costs consistent with maintenance of market positions so that the operational gearing effect of higher sales when demand picks up will be fully reflected in improved profitability. We anticipate negligible improvement in high technology markets, but are more optimistic concerning the trends that we see in most other manufacturing industries.
