Nichols : Litigation update, post close trading update and notice of results

Date: Wednesday 2 July 2014 Contacts: John Nichols, Non-Executive Chairman Marnie Millard, Group Chief Executive Tim Croston, Group Finance Director Nichols plc

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Website:www.nicholsplc.co.uk
Alex Brennan Richard Lindley

Hudson Sandler N+1 Singer (Nominated Adviser)

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Nichols plc ("Nichols" or the "Group")
Litigation update, post close trading update and notice of results
Nichols has today received judgement from the High Court with regard to the litigation claim from
Gul Bottlers (PVT) Limited ("Gul"). The High Court has awarded damages against Nichols totalling
1,359,978,570 Pakistani Rupees (equating to approximately £8.0m) plus costs, which are to be assessed but are anticipated to be in the range of £1.0m to £1.5m. The award is the High Court's assessment of Gul's loss of profit for the duration of a contract signed in September 2011 to produce and distribute Vimto in the Pakistani market.
Nichols fundamentally disagrees with the quantum of the award by the High Court and is considering with its professional advisers options for appeal and will provide an update in due course.
As disclosed in the preliminary results announcement for the year ended 31 December 2013 published on 13th March 2014, an exceptional cost of £2.0m was provided in the Group's annual accounts to December 2013 for this claim. At that time, the provision was based on Nichols' external expert advisor's evaluation of the claim and was considered sufficient to cover the potential loss of profits award.
Whilst this is an extremely disappointing outcome, there is no impact on future underlying trading expectations and the payment of this award in no way affects the Group's ability to continue with its strategy to invest in its brands and future growth plans. The Group continues to be highly cash generative with a strong balance sheet.
The Group's interim results for the period ended 30 June 2014 will be announced on 24 July 2014. The Board is pleased to confirm that trading for the first six months of the year continues to be good and is confident of delivering full year results in line with management expectations.