OP sales steady for DS Smith

Released 04/03/2010

Interim management statement optimistic

DS Smith, parent company to wholesaler Spicers, announced in its interim management statement today that trading for the third quarter of financial year 2009/10 has been ahead of expectations.

The group reports no significant change to its financial position since the publication of the results for the six months to 31 October 2009, announcing that cash flow generation remains strong, as well as better sales than previously anticipated across both its packaging and office products wholesaling divisions.

Demand for office products from the wholesaler continues to be substantially affected by the slowdown in the European economy. "Against this background, Spicers' sales performance continues to be good," read the statement. "The actions taken in the UK business are improving its performance and this is starting to come through in the results.

"We continue to be faced by both the uncertainty surrounding the strength of the economic recovery and the need to recover rising input costs," the statement said of future outlook. "Nevertheless, business performance remains encouraging and management is confident of meeting its expectations for the year to April 2010."

The group plans to announce its preliminary results for the financial year to 30 April on 24 June.

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