10 Jul 2012 07:00
Interserve TRADING UPDATE
Interserve, the international support services and construction group, today provides a trading update in advance of announcing half-year results on 15 August 2012.
Highlights
* Good trading during the first half with increased revenues and margins
tracking as expected
* Over £1 billion of new work won in 2012, reinforcing strong future workload
* Continued strong cash generation
* Realised value from PFI portfolio through the recent University College
London Hospitals (UCLH) transaction
Chief Executive Adrian Ringrose commented,
"Interserve is trading well, expanding our already strong client relationships. This is reflected in revenue growth and a healthy future workload. Additionally, we have executed our strategy through the acquisition of BEST, a public services business, and have unlocked further value from our PFI portfolio."
Trading performance
The Group continues to trade well underpinned by strong cash generation. Segmental performances remain consistent with those described in the Interim Management Statement published on 16 May 2012.
* We have won work worth over £1 billion with clients including Ministry of
Justice, Alder Hey Children's Trust, Alliance Boots, Tata, Gammon-Hyundai,
William Hill, Ladbrokes, BPP, Sainsbury's, National Grid, West Yorkshire
Police Authority and the Highways Agency.
* Support Services, both UK and internationally, is progressing well with
core markets showing growth. Our efficiency improvement programme is
delivering margin gains year on year.
* Construction has performed in line with expectations, with a degree of
outperformance in the UK offsetting weakness in some international markets.
* Equipment Services is growing, led by the Far East and parts of the Middle
East with continued strong trading in Australasia. Europe, notably Ireland
and Spain, and North America remain muted.
Strategic development
The partial disposal of our interest in UCLH demonstrates the latent value in our PFI portfolio. On completion this transaction will generate £35 million of cash. In addition we have acquired the welfare-to-work business renamed Interserve Working Futures, furthering our strategy of developing as a front-line public services provider.
Financial position
We have significant available debt facilities which, combined with prudent cash management, reinforce our strong financial position.
Outlook
We continue to expect stable trading in 2012, in line with market expectations. Our medium-term growth strategy remains focused on:
* Building strong core businesses
* Expanding internationally
* Capturing new opportunities that broaden the scope of our core businesses
An electronic copy of this trading update will be available to download from the Company's website, www.interserve.com.
- Ends -
For further information please contact:
Robin O'Kelly, Director of Communications 0118 960 2313
Sam Turvey, Maitland 020 7379 5151 About Interserve
Interserve's vision is to be the Trusted Partner of all our stakeholders. We are one of the world's foremost support services and construction companies, operating in the public and private sectors in the UK and internationally. We offer advice, design, construction, equipment and facilities management services for society's infrastructure. Interserve is based in the UK and is listed in the FTSE 250 index. We have gross revenue of £2.3 billion and a workforce of over 50,000 people worldwide. Website: www.interserve.com.
PINX