17th May 2006 07:01
AMEC PLC17 May 2006 AGM TRADING STATEMENT Proposed sale of AMEC SPIE and overall trading on track Highlights of the AGM statement - Proposed sale of AMEC SPIE expected around mid-2006 at an attractive profit- Overall trading* for 2006 in line with earlier expectations AMEC, the international project management and services company, is holding itsannual general meeting at 10.30am today in London, UK. At the meeting, chiefexecutive Sir Peter Mason will update shareholders on the strategicrestructuring of the group and will confirm that overall trading* remains inline with the board's earlier expectations. Highlights of his address toshareholders are set out below. * For the AMEC group as currently structured Strategic restructuring First round bids have been received for AMEC SPIE and the board continues toexpect an attractive profit on the sale. The transaction is expected to besigned around the middle of the year. The board continues to work on theseparation of the continuing businesses and will update shareholders on progressfollowing the sale of AMEC SPIE. Sir Peter Mason, who is due to retire in September 2006, will continue as chiefexecutive of AMEC until later this year when his successor is expected to beappointed. Trading UpdateThe Multitechnical Services business in Continental Europe has had a good start to the year and order intake remains ahead of sales. We continue to see generally strong market conditions in the EnvironmentalServices business and further recovery in AMEC's North American industrialmarkets. As previously reported, our activities in Iraq will continue during2006, but at a reduced level. For the year to-date, activity levels in Iraq havebeen running ahead of our earlier expectations. Oil and gas markets remain robust and the Oil and Gas business has had a strongstart to the year. Our activities in minerals and metals mining, which arereported in this segment and which had an outstanding year in 2005, have had abetter start to the year than was previously anticipated. Better than expected performance in the Engineering and Technical Services andOil and Gas segments has been offset by disappointing trading in the UKConstruction Services business. In late 2005, significant management changeswere made in this business and additional steps have recently been taken tostrengthen further its project delivery capabilities. OrdersOrder intake in the Engineering and Technical Services business continues togrow, whilst the order book in Oil and Gas and Project Solutions remains unchanged on the position at 31 December 2005, standing at £2.9 billion. Net debt Average weekly net debt for 2006* remains on track to reduce to around £400 million. OutlookThe board maintains its earlier expectations at the time of AMEC's preliminary results in March for overall* progress in 2006. * For the AMEC group as currently structured Chief executive, Sir Peter Mason, said: "We are making solid progress with the first stage of our strategicrestructuring and expect the prospective sale of AMEC SPIE to generate anattractive profit for our shareholders. "Our major markets are generally strong and we remain on track to deliveroverall performance this year in line with our earlier expectations."A telephone conference call for analysts and investors will be held at 8.30amtoday. Enquiries to: AMEC plc: + 44 (0)20 7634 0000 Analysts and investors:Sir Peter Mason KBE, Chief ExecutiveStuart Siddall, Finance DirectorNeil Jamieson, Director of Investor Relations Media:Juliet Sychrava, Director of Corporate CommunicationsCharles Reynolds, Head of Media Relations AMEC plc is an international project management and services company thatdesigns, delivers and supports infrastructure assets for customers worldwideacross the public and private sectors. AMEC employs 45,000 people in more than40 countries, generating annual revenues of around £5 billion. AMEC's shares aretraded on the London Stock Exchange where the company is listed in the SupportServices sector (LSE: AMEC.L). Internet users will be able to view this announcement, together with otherinformation about AMEC plc, at the company's web site www.amec.com ENDS This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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