Viridien - comment

The DDE segment performed strongly, but SMO was disappointing (down 50%) due to a shift of deliveries into Q4. Full-year guidance was reiterated, underlining management confidence that the SMO deliveries will materialise in Q4. Viridian has been expecting an improvement in orders with SMO for years, and too often, it is a story of jam tomorrow. However, the confirmation of Free Cash flow guidance is encouraging as this has been a perennial problem for the company. Bond prices will have been helped by €25m of a €30m buyback programme in the quarter. We are updating our model and will provide more details.