19th May 2016 08:09
LONDON (Alliance News) - Waste manager Shanks Group PLC on Thursday said its pretax loss shrunk in its financial year to the end of March, primarily thanks to much lower one-off writedowns and a marginal rise in revenue.
Shanks said its pretax loss for the year to March 31 was GBP2.5 million, compared to GBP20.5 million a year earlier. Exceptional costs for the year fell to GBP23.5 million from GBP42.2 million previously. Stripping out those one-off effects, underlying pretax profit dipped slightly to GBP21.0 million from GBP21.7 million.
Revenue for the year grew to GBP613.8 million from GBP599.4 million, despite market conditions remaining tough. Shanks said its Commercial Waste unit delivered growth in trading profit thanks to self-help measures the company undertook and stabilising markets.
The Hazardous Waste arm also delivered profit growth, despite more than half its revenue coming from the under-pressure oil and gas industry. Shanks said the Municipal division saw trading profit fall, however, amid difficult market conditions.
Shanks said the performance was in line with its revised expectations, as self-help initiatives largely offset any external challenges in the second half of the year.
The group maintained its final dividend at 2.35 pence per share, meaning its total payout for the year is flat at 3.45p, saying this reflected its confidence on its medium-term outlook.
"We have delivered revenue and profit growth in 2015/16 despite tough macro markets. Overall we remain well positioned to make progress and meet our expectations for 2016/17," said Chief Executive Peter Dilnot.
Shares in Shanks were down 1.7% to 79.88 pence.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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