AGM Update
Update on Investment
At the Annual General Meeting of DouglasBay Capital plc ("DouglasBay" or "the Group")
being held today at 11-30 a.m., the Chairman, David Panter, will provide shareholders with
the following update on the Group's principal investment, the logistics group TDG:
"We are pleased to see that TDG, DouglasBay's first major investment, has performed in line
with management expectations in its seasonally weaker first half despite the effects of a weak
global economy. The freight forwarding and contract logistics businesses are proving to be
resilient. This is a result of the broad spread of its customer base – by territory, industrial
sector and size – and of the long term relationships the business builds with its customers.
Whilst the chemicals division of TDG has seen reduced volume, we remain confident about its
longer term prospects given TDG’s market leading position in this more cyclical segment of
the market.
We have reorganised the business under the new CEO, Mike Branigan, who was appointed
in February and who has put in place a new team and culture. The cost base has been
significantly reduced and the company has refocused on its long term strengths of innovation,
flexibility and the trust it builds with customers who value the approachability, and availability,
of TDG’s experienced senior managers in helping to solve their problems.
The competitive advantage of TDG’s know-how and innovation driven approach to logistics,
combined with our Group's financial strength has enabled the company to continue to invest
in its business and to focus successfully on business development. The company has
launched a new division, TDG Advanced Solutions, which is providing supply chain
management solutions based on a new and unique technology platform that is able to
achieve up to 10% costs savings on customers’ total logistics spend.
TDG has also recently secured major contracts with blue chip customers such as Henkel. In
addition, TDG will be opening a Hungarian base in August to develop its central and eastern
European business ,adding to the presence in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany,
Poland, Spain and Ireland as well as the UK.
DouglasBay's management team, working with that of TDG, is continuing to examine options
to unlock the value of TDG's substantial real estate assets.
In summary, I believe we have made good progress increasing the growth potential of TDG
for our shareholders, despite the difficult market environment. In addition, DoulgasBay is
reviewing and seeking new investment opportunities not only to add to TDG’s business, but
also outside the logistics sector. I look forward to reporting our progress in more detail with
the half year results to the end of June which we expect to announce at the end of
September."
For further information, please visit www.douglasbaycap.com or contact:
DouglasBay Capital plc
Alex Paiusco, Chief Executive
Tel: 01624 690900
Tavistock Communications
Simon Hudson/Simon Compton
Tel: 020 7920 3150
shudson@tavistock.co.uk
scompton@tavistock.co.uk
KBC Peel Hunt
(Nominated Adviser & Broker)
Guy Wiehahn
Oliver Stratton
Tel: 020 7418 8900