Shearwater Regulatory News (SWG)

17 Oct 2006 07:02

Scott Wilson Group plc17 October 2006 For immediate release 17 October 2006 Scott Wilson Group plc AGM Statement and Trading Update At the AGM of the Scott Wilson Group plc ("Scott Wilson"), the internationalconsultancy offering integrated professional services in the transportation,property, environmental and natural resources sectors, Geoff French, ExecutiveChairman, will make the following statement: - Highlights * Current trading continues to be very strong; market conditions remain buoyant. * Order book significantly ahead of this time last year. * Acquisition of Ferguson McIlveen LLP announced independently today. Introduction "This has been a landmark year for Scott Wilson. In March 2006 the Group completed a successful flotation on the Official List ofthe London Stock Exchange. As was stated at IPO, our intention was to float inorder to remove historical constraints to growth, in particular the availabilityof working capital, the level of bank debt, the pension deficits and therequirement to purchase shares owned by retiring employees. The successfulflotation removed those constraints and provided additional working capital,which has created the opportunity to accelerate our growth rate and improveprofitability. We have a detailed internal rolling five year plan setting out how we intend toachieve the Group's medium term strategic objectives. These objectives includemaking selective complementary acquisitions in addition to continuing to investin organic growth. Since the flotation we have made considerable progress with several high profilecontract wins. As already announced, these include the Edinburgh Airport RailLink with fees of £18m, London Crossrail with fees of £12m, Greece IonianMotorway with fees of £12m, and Bahrain Islands Developments with fees of £10m. Acquisitions We have today announced separately that we have reached a conditional agreementto acquire the business and assets of Ferguson McIlveen LLP, a leadingconsultancy in Northern Ireland, for a consideration of £10.1m. The acquisitionis expected to be completed on 1 November 2006. The acquisition represents animportant step in line with our strategy to pursue selective acquisitions whichintroduce new technical disciplines, enhance existing technical skills orpresent growth opportunities in our core sectors or target geographical markets,with North and South Ireland having been key target markets identified at thetime of our flotation. The acquisition of Ferguson McIlveen LLP follows the acquisition of the minorityinterest in Scott Wilson Pavement Engineering Ltd in May 2006 and theacquisition of Roscoe Postle Associates in June 2006. We will continue to target further, earnings enhancing, acquisitions where thesehelp us to develop new skills, markets and clients. Current Trading Turning to trading, last year was an excellent one for the Group. Our financialresults showed a continuing significant improvement in revenue, operating profitand operating margin. In addition our order book grew to a new record level. Ourperformance for the year as a whole slightly exceeded the Board's expectationsset at the time of flotation. The Board is pleased to report that trading in the first five months of thecurrent financial year ending 30 April 2007 is in line with expectations,remaining strong with the Group's order book significantly ahead of this timelast year. Our recent acquisitions have been integrated into the Group'sstructure and are already making significant contributions to the business. Market conditions in all our key sectors remain buoyant. The Board, therefore,remains confident about Scott Wilson's prospects for the current financial yearand beyond. Scott Wilson intends to issue its interim results for the six months ended 31October 2006 in January 2007." Ends For further information please contact: Scott Wilson Group plc www.scottwilson.comGeoff French, Chairman 01256 310200Stephen Kimmett, Finance Director Smithfield 020 7360 4900Katie Hunt Print resolution images are available for the media to view and download fromwww.vismedia.co.uk Notes to Editors: Scott Wilson is a leading international consultancy offering integrated servicesfor civil and structural engineering projects, transportation, environmentalstudies and institutional development. It was ranked as the ninth largestUK-owned engineering consultant by fee income for the calendar year 2005 in theNew Civil Engineer 2006 annual Survey. The Group earned approximately 67 per cent of its revenue over the three yearsto 30 April 2006 in the UK and approximately 33 per cent overseas. The Group hasan existing network of international offices controlled through six regionalcentres in Warsaw, Johannesburg, Dubai, Delhi, Bangkok and Shanghai/Hong Kong. Scott Wilson has strong relationships with national governments,non-governmental agencies, multinational companies and supranational fundingbodies. In the financial year ended 30 April 2006, 30 of the Company's clientswere billed over £1 million and the top 50 of the Group's clients accounted foraggregate fees of some £100 million. Important clients and partners include Network Rail, the Highways Agency,Balfour Beatty, Alfred McAlpine, Cross London Rail Links, English Partnerships,Defence Estates, tie (transport initiatives Edinburgh), Southern Water, EnglishPartnerships, Costain, London Underground and the Roads Service NorthernIreland. Notable projects on which Scott Wilson has worked in the last year includeLondon Crossrail, Bangkok Airport, Manchester Airport, Spinnaker Tower, the UKWest Coast Rail Route Modernisation, AsiaWorld Expo, Victoria Station andEdinburgh Tram. ******* This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange