UMECO (UMC).

Investors Chronicle, June, 2004

Umeco has been on the acquisition trail for the past few months. In February, it paid $8.2m (GBP4.5m) in cash for an 80 per cent stake in US military supplier Tailored Logistics Corporation. This was followed by a post year-end deal to buy composites supplier Advanced Composites for GBP44.25m (equating to 11.6 times operating profits), which was part-funded by a GBP21m rights issue.

Thanks, in part, to the contributions from these acquisitions, Arbuthnot Securities expects adjusted pre-tax profits to leap from

GBP9.6m last year to GBP14m, giving EPS of 27.8p (23.4p in 2004).

Fortunately, Umeco shouldn't have to rely solely on acquisitions to generate growth this year. Despite a 14 per cent decline in civil aircraft new-builds in 2003, the...

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