22nd Jan 2015 10:18
LONDON (Alliance News) - Waste management services company Augean PLC on Thursday said it expects its underlying pretax profit to be in line with market expectations for 2014 after a solid second half performance, though it expressed some caution on the outlook for its North Sea business owing to the impact of the falling oil price.
Augean said its pretax profit for the year to December 31 will meet market forecasts on the back of a robust performance across its operating divisions.
The group said its energy and construction arm posted a strong performance for the year, with new contracts won over the year and additional tonnage sent to landfill. In addition, the performance of the unit held up over the Christmas period as the weather in the UK remained mild.
The group said its radioactive waste services business had a strong first full financial year, and said profit and revenue from its industry and infrastructure business continued to grow.
Its integrated services business improved in the second half on the back of growth for the East Kent High Temperature Incinerator, and it posted significant growth in operating profit and revenue from its North Sea services arm, with the strong performance for that unit in the second half continuing into 2015.
The group said it has yet to feel the impact of the oil price fall, but said it is cautious on the outlook for its North Sea business owing to the reduced activity by some oil companies in the Aberdeen area.
"2014 was the first full year of trading since the announcement of the group's new strategy. We have seen the strategy gain traction during 2014, with an extremely encouraging performance for the year, which we expect to be reflected in 2014 earnings and cash flow compared to 2013," said Augean Chief Executive Officer Stewart Davies.
Augean shares were down 0.5% to 47.00 pence on Thursday.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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