25 Jun 2008 11:03
25th June 2008
SMC Group Plc ("SMC" or "the Company" or "the Group")
Directorate Change, Trading Update and AGM Statement
Directorate Change
SMC Group Plc the architects and design business, is pleased to announce the appointment of Chris Littlemore, the current Managing Director, as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect. Chris has been Managing Director since 1st February 2008 and has been instrumental in driving and delivering the successful restructuring of the business, following the completion in January 2008 of the open offer which raised £15.1m.
As a result, Sir Rodney Walker will revert back to his role as Non Executive Chairman with immediate effect, after a period of being Executive Chairman.
Trading update
In addition, the Group is pleased to announce that it has agreed new funding arrangements with its bankers HBOS, delivering more favourable terms, on the reduced level of debt facilities now required by the Group. The new arrangements include a structured re-payment of term and overdraft facilities over five years and will provide savings on interest payments over the period.
The Group has been able to improve the defensive characteristics of its general business profile over the last few months and is pleased to confirm that despite the widely reported uncertainty in the property and construction markets, it continues to deliver robust trading with commissions ongoing in the UK and overseas across a wide spread of sectors, funded by private and public organisations. The Group is however alive to the prospect of a downturn and appropriate plans have been put in place should the Group be affected.
The Group is particularly pleased to report the substantial growth and expansion of its operations in Asia and together with the potential to expand in the Middle East, the board believes that both markets offer significant future growth potential. The Group is pleased to report that during the past year a total of four 'Cityscape' awards have been won for large urban mixed use projects in Asia and has recently been nominated for a further award for the 'Raffles City' project in Ningbo, China. This demonstrates and affirms the high quality and recognition of the work being produced by the group in the international arena.
The Group is delivering the harmonisation and unification aspects of its new business plan, which is bringing benefits of improved group functions in Accountancy, Marketing, HR and IT together with regionalisation and control of the business in the UK. This will deliver cost savings within the organisation without affecting the technical expertise or scale of the resource. These actions will assist in the current UK market conditions and will provide a national platform for the unification of the business now and its growth in the future.
AGM Statement
The Group is also pleased to announce that all resolutions at the Company's Annual General Meeting held earlier today, apart from resolutions eight and nine which were withdrawn by the Company prior to the meeting and not tabled, were duly passed.
Chris Littlemore, newly appointed CEO commented:
"Since February, the company has moved forwards establishing and delivering against a firm business plan. We are capitalising on the strengths of each individual element of the group to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts. This is an exciting process and is one that I believe will bear fruit in the short, medium and long term.
"I speak on behalf of the entire Board in recognising the significant and vital contribution made to the company by Sir Rodney Walker during his tenure as Executive Chairman. I would like to thank Sir Rodney for his input and leadership during a difficult time for the business. I am grateful for the confidence shown in me by the board and I look forward to the challenge of this new role."
Ends
For further information:
SMC Group Plc Tel: +44 (0)20 7580 0400
Chris Littlemore/Rob Boardman
Numis Securities Limited Tel: +44 (0)20 7260 1000
Stuart Skinner/Brent Nabbs/James Serjeant
Financial Dynamics Tel: +44 (0)20 7831 3113
Jonathon Brill/Billy Clegg/Caroline Stewart/Annie Evangeli