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30 October 2023

Northern Bear plc

("Northern Bear", the "Company" or, together with its subsidiaries, the "Group")

Trading Update

Northern Bear (LSE:NTBR), the AIM quoted holding company of the group of companies providing specialist building and support services headquartered in Northern England and serving customers across the UK, is pleased to provide an update on trading for the six-month period ended 30 September 2023 ("H1 FY24" or the "Period") for the Group. 

The Company's previous trading update on 12 September 2023 which was reiterated on 23 October 2023 stated that the Group had traded in line with management's expectations and ahead of strong prior year results, and that site activity levels remained high despite the ongoing macro-economic challenges and their related impact on the construction industry.

The Board is pleased to announce that the Group's interim results for the six-month period ended 30 September 2023 are expected to report operating profit, stated prior to amortisation and one-off costs (in the format used in our last full year results), in the range of £1.7m to £1.8m for the period. 

This represents a significant improvement on the prior period comparative for the six-month period ended 30 September 2022 ("H1 FY23" or the "Prior Period") of £1.5m, which was considered a very strong performance, and is testament to the hard work and commitment of the Group's employee base. 

The only item expected to be classed as 'amortisation and one-off costs' in the Period and Prior Period is a £6,000 adjustment for amortisation.  As at 30 September 2023, the Group had a net cash position of £0.4m (30 September 2022: net bank debt of £1.9m; 31 March 2023: net cash of £3.2m). 

The above estimates are subject to finalisation of the Group's unaudited interim results for H1 FY24, which are expected to be released in the week commencing 27 November 2023 along with further guidance on expected full year results.

The Group's forward order book remains strong and should support trading performance in the coming months, subject to ongoing uncertainties in the macro-economic climate in which the Group operates. 

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