Avon Rubber has announced an order for 53k M50 mask systems for the US Department of Defense, worth $14.3m. Along with orders already in hand, this underpins its expected sales of masks to the DoD in FY18, with three quarters of the year still to go. This announcement follows the strong FY17 results and accompanying update of a strong closing order book for FY17 plus additional orders received post the year end, and should provide further confidence in the group’s prospects.