12th Nov 2014 09:50
LONDON (Alliance News) - Mears Group PLC shares were down on Wednesday after the company issued a cautious trading statement, saying it is still seeing weakness in social housing bidding opportunities and saying it expects its full year results to be "generally in line" with expectations.
The support services company's shares were down 12% to 381.41 pence, one of the worst performers in the FTSE All Share, after it said it has continued to see a lower level of new social housing bidding opportunities in the second half of the year, with 96% visibility on its GBP864 million market consensus revenue forecast for 2014 and 86% on its GBP934 million consensus for 2015.
The group said it has delivered a solid performance across its divisions, with GBP170 million in new contracts secured in the first nine months of the year and strong margin progression, primarily on the integration of the Morrison Facilities Services PLC business it bought in November 2012.
Mears said it has made progress in the first nine months, but said the delays in tendering new opportunities in the social housing sector had been "frustrating".
"I believe the opportunities for us in social housing remain very strong as our clients seek broader solutions to their increasingly complex housing challenges," said Mears Chief Executive David Miles.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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