Inspirit Energy Regulatory News (INSP)

25 Jan 2007 07:00

Inspace Plc25 January 2007 Press Release 25 January 2007 Inspace plc ("Inspace" or "the Company") Pre-close Statement Inspace plc (AIM:INSP), one of the UK's leading specialist service providers tothe social housing market, will announce its final results for the year ended 31December 2006 on Tuesday 27 March 2007. An analyst briefing will be held at 09:00 that same morning at the London Stock Exchange, 10 Paternoster Square, London EC4M 7LS. The Directors are pleased to confirm that the overall trading position is inline with market forecasts for the year ended 31 December 2006. The acquisition of Widacre Limited on 31 August 2006, which was a majorstrategic development for Inspace, has already begun to deliver positivebenefits. Its contribution to results for the year ended 31 December 2006 islikely to exceed original expectation, it has significantly strengthenedworkload visibility, and it has improved the prospects of securing significant 'Decent Homes' stock reinvestment contracts moving forward. Widacre has beenfully integrated into Group operations with all social housing activity nowoperating under the name of Inspace Partnerships and affordable housing activityoperating as Inspace Homes. Customer support has been excellent, acknowledging the strategic merit inassembling a combined maintenance, stock reinvestment and design and buildservice in response to evolving government policy. The announcement by Rt HonRuth Kelly MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, on 17January 2007 that the Housing Corporation and English Partnerships are now to becombined under the banner of the new Communities England agency provides furtherevidence of a shift towards holistic, sustainable and more sophisticatedsolutions to meet the growing demand for social housing. Widacre's increasing contribution to Group results has relieved the pressure onpre-acquisition operations, which faced a number of short term challengeshighlighted at the half year, and allowed an accelerated and more radicalapproach towards shaping and developing the enlarged business. In social housing terms, the business has successfully mobilised two new repairand maintenance contracts, for the borough of Hinckley and Bosworth and forYorkshire Coast Homes, and has secured four further social housing frameworkswith the Connected consortium, Hyde Housing Group, Thames Valley HousingAssociation and Aldwyck Housing Association, expected to contribute totalcombined sales of around £60 million over four years, starting in 2008. Thisbrings the total number of secured frameworks to twenty-three, and the totalvalue of secured orders and frameworks awarded since the summer to in excess of£160 million. Secured orders and frameworks now sit at around £1.4 billion. Ofequal importance, this division appears closer to winning its first major DecentHomes contract. Having recently been selected as 'reserve contractor' for amajor scheme involving significant Decent Homes investment suggests the Group'sincreasing competitiveness in a strategically important and previouslyunderexploited sector. Affordable housing operations are already well placed for 2007, with most unitsales now reserved and the majority already exchanged. Despite the short term impact on sales, the corporate assets division hascontinued to implement a change programme aimed at increasing the quality andvisibility of its workload and the efficiency of its operational delivery. Theprogramme, which includes smaller, shorter term or lower margin accounts beingsacrificed to concentrate efforts upon those offering greater growth potential,is now entering what is expected to be the last and most radical phase. Thiswill see operational teams realigned around customer accounts rather thanregional centres, and the roll out of new service management and financialcontrol systems following the completion of software development. These changesare expected to unlock real efficiency benefits during the second half of 2007. The Directors are satisfied with the progress achieved during the period and areconfident that a solid platform has been established for future growth acrossall three divisions. - Ends - For further information:Inspace plc Andrew Telfer, Chief Financial Officer Tel: +44 (0) 1462 678 910andrew.telfer@inspace.co.uk www.inspace.co.uk Seymour PierceMark Percy, Corporate Finance Tel: +44 (0) 20 7107 8000markpercy@seymourpierce.com www.seymourpierce.com Media enquiries:AbchurchHenry Harrison-Topham Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7702henry.ht@abchurch-group.com www.abchurch-group.com Notes to editors Inspace plc is a property based support services group, and one of the UK'sleading specialist service providers to the social housing market, Inspace hasthree complementary areas of activity: social housing, affordable housing andcorporate assets. Social Housing - creating and maintaining sustainable homes The division is one of the UK's leading specialist support service providers tosocial housing landlords through long term framework contracts. Its servicescomprise major 'repair and maintenance', 'stock reinvestment' and new buildprogrammes for local authorities, Arms Length Management Organisations (ALMO)and Registered Social Landlords (RSLs). Total spending on social housing is currently around £14 billion per annum, ofwhich around £10.3 billion is spent on repair, maintenance and improvement. Ofthis, £4 billion is spent on ongoing repair and maintenance, with the remaining£6 billion being spent on capital projects such as major refurbishment andimprovement. This includes a contribution of between £1 billion and £2 billiona year from the Decent Homes initiative. The provision of new housing, which iscurrently running at around 35,000 units a year, adds a further £3.5 billion tothis sum. Affordable Housing - developing integrated communities The affordable housing division specialises in the provision of low cost homesfor sale in partnership with RSLs, usually alongside social housing built by theSocial Housing division, as part of more extensive mixed tenure schemes. It hasalready established a number of joint venture companies with RSLs and throughits involvement in the Key London Alliance consortium, has been appointed toprovide mixed tenure developments under the Government's London Wide Initiative. Corporate Assets - improving and maintaining public and private real estate The corporate assets division provides a comprehensive repair, maintenance,capital works and interior design service across public and private sectornon-residential real estate. It delivers 24/7 integrated maintenance servicesacross England, Scotland and Wales through its national network of branches and'home based' mobile engineers. Its specialist design-led service offerscustomers an integrated interior design, installation and furnishing 'one stop'solution. Further information on Inspace can be found at www.inspace.co.uk This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange