29th Oct 2014 07:56
LONDON (Alliance News) - Ricardo PLC on Wednesday said it has seen a positive start to its new financial year, with first quarter order intake rising and its order book at the end of the quarter ahead of the same period a year earlier, giving it confidence on its outlook for the year.
The environmental and engineering consultancy said order intake in the first quarter to the end of September was GBP8.5 million, with a particularly strong start to the new financial year in Asia.
The group's order book at the end of September was GBP142 million, GBP21 ahead of the same period a year earlier, though flat on the level at the end of its last financial year in June.
The group said its Technical Consulting arm won a large commercial vehicle project contract for a new Asian customer during the period, along with power generation and passenger car work in the UK and more high performance vehicle and motorsport orders for its Performance Products unit.
The group said its pipeline is currently strong, with multi-year development programmes for customers in the UK, Europe, Asia and North America.
Ricardo-AEA, its energy and environmental arm, has been bidding on a number of new international opportunities recently, it said.
Ricardo also noted it completed the acquisition of Vepro Ltd in the period.
"The strong order intake in the final quarter of the last financial year has continued in the summer months and I am particularly pleased with the continued growth in new business from Asia," said Ricardo Chief Executive Officer Dave Shemmans.
"With the good start to the year and the encouraging pipeline, we remain confident of continued progress in the remainder of our current financial year," he added.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Ricardo