Walcom Group Ltd - Company Update
PR Newswire
London, August 14
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) No. 596/2014 ("MAR")
14 August 2019
WALCOM GROUP LIMITED
("Walcom" or "the Company")
Company update
Further to the Company's announcement on 3 July 2019, the Company provides the following update.
The Company's trading performance remains affected by the prevalence of African Swine Fever ("ASF") in China which continues to spread and is affecting most of the Company's domestic customers. As a result, revenues being generated by the Company are lower than was anticipated three months ago. As yet, there is no vaccine available to control the spread of ASF which has resulted in a significant reduction in the size of the swine population in China. The Company expects the impact of ASF to continue for at least the next six months following which the Directors are hopeful that pork producers will start to increase swine numbers.
Whilst the Company's export sales remain stable, the Company is actively working on increasing its customer base and customer penetration within the poultry feed sector and is exploring opportunities in the beef cattle sector with the hope that the Company will see the benefit of these efforts in the latter part of this year.
As a result of the current trading conditions, the Board expects that the Group will be able to meet its liabilities as they fall due until mid-September 2019 and continues to monitor closely its working capital position. The Board continues to seek alternative funding to safeguard the Group's liquidity and, whilst the Company is hopeful that it will secure the necessary funding, in the event that it is unable to address the working capital shortfall, the Company may be unable to continue its operations and may be forced into liquidation with a consequential diminution in value to shareholders.
Following the announcement made on 3 July 2019 in respect of the legal proceedings against the Group's largest customer in China, the Company has not received any further updates from the court subsequent to the filing of an appeal by the Customer on 26 June 2019. It remains unclear whether the overdue receivables will be recovered, and further announcements will be made in due course.
Further enquiries:
| Walcom Group Limited Francis Chi (Chief Executive Officer/Chief Financial Officer) Jessie Chan (Deputy Chief Financial Officer) | +852 2494 0133 |
| Allenby Capital Limited David Hart / Asha Chotai | +44 20 3328 5656 |
