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're above, found this report dated 12 March 2019, stating debt at 31 December 2018 was around £180m.
" In their statement, the company wrote that “[Kier] has revised its net debt position as at 31 December 2018 to £180.5M (from c.£130M) and, accordingly, has re-calculated its average month-end net debt for the six months ended 31 December 2018 as being c.£430M (from c.£370M).”
The RNS included the statement,
" increase FY2019 average month-end net debt to £420m-£450m."
Am I correct in thinking that this month end debt figure will be reduced by fees and work valuations, for completed work, but yet to be submitted and paid by Clients?
If so, does anybody know what the true debt figure Is? Or am I misunderstanding how debt is reported.
I agree 2% margin is fairly typical for major construction companies. The business operates on low margin on a high revenue which is generated by a small amount if capital employed.
Also, note Kiers debt Is about 10% of Carillions debt, so the business is viable if it is given a chance.
Kier have lots of major public sector contracts which are effectively self funding, so cash flow is unlikely to be a problem Kier are currently making a profit and have a strong pipeline of work, unlike Carillion. I expect Kier to survive and come out leaner and more efficient. Great long term buy at this price.
Construction is different to other business models. A major contractor like Kier can run major projects using very little of his own cash and resources. The enormous turnover is basically the Clients money, not the Contractors. A good contactor can make the model work, and occasionally they can make a killing on some jobs.
From my limited review, I'd put Kier into a different league to Carillion.
From 2018 annual report:
Residential £347m revenue £25.9m operating profit
Property £218m revenue £34m operating profit
Construction £2.0 bn revenue £41.9m operating profit
Services £1.8bn revenue £93m operating profit
So residential represents under 10% of revenue.
The drop today seems well overdone?