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LONDON (Dow Jones - 21/07/2005) - Toy train maker Hornby warned that trade has begun to weaken in recent months but added the summer period is seasonally weaker so it remains hard to predict demand.
The news was released as an AGM statement which reported weakening consumer demand in the UK.
"In the UK we began to see some weakening of consumer demand during May. This trend has continued in June and July. However this is traditionally a quiet period for trading and it is therefore difficult to project future demand based on current experience," said Hornby.
On the international platform Hornby said it has made good progress transferring production of Lima products from Italy to China with sales starting in the Autumn.
"Our marketing initiatives in Spain will have a positive effect on sales and profits this year and, Scalextric USA is also expected to deliver an improved performance compared to last year," said Hornby.
This seems to be the focus for future growth as Chairman Neil Johnson said, "Further development of our recent international investments will, as planned, help to offset UK market fluctuations in future years."
Ed - After pessimistic news recently from Roco and Märklin has announced some down-sizing, this does not bode well, but it is Summer and we prefer to be outdoors at this time of year. eBay sales of trains are down and the shops are closing for their holidays - what can you expect right now. Lets just hope that it all picks up again from September onwards.