Two and a half years ago, Oxford Instruments embarked on a strategy to reposition the business towards future growth markets such as those benefiting from environmental legislation and nanotechnology investment. Though becoming increasingly competitive, these markets show strong intrinsic growth, notwithstanding the current economic turmoil. This resilience, coupled with an increasingly commercial approach across the Group, provides firm foundations for a successful and sustainable growth model.

In June, we reported on the second full year of this strategy. We achieved progress in line with our plan to double the size of the business in five years and improve EBIT margins by ten percentage points, despite adverse currency effects. The recent strengthening of the dollar and the euro against sterling should now support rather than hinder our growth.

Since the start of this financial year, we have acquired two companies in line with our growth strategy. Technologies and Devices International Inc (TDI) was acquired in April 2008 and has a unique technology which facilitates the manufacture of energy efficient high brightness light emitting diodes (HBLEDs). Work is currently underway to industrialise this process. A fabrication tool based on this technology is due for launch within 12 months. In May 2008, we acquired Oxford Instruments Nordiska AB from LINK Analytical AB, a distributor of analytical instrumentation in the Nordic countries. The acquisition strengthens our position in this important region. I would like to welcome our new colleagues to Oxford Instruments.

The two acquisitions we made last year, Worldwide Analytical Systems AG and VeriCold Technologies GmbH, have been integrated successfully into the Oxford Instruments Group and are performing to plan.

Despite the general economic uncertainty, our turnover and order intake to date this year are ahead of the same period last year. As a result, the Board remains confident that the outcome for the full year will meet its expectations.