24th May 2007 07:01
RPS Group PLC24 May 2007 RPS GROUP PLC("RPS" or "the Group") Annual General Meeting Statement 2007 has begun well for RPS and the Board anticipates publishing good resultsfor the first half of the year. Since the beginning of the year we have completed three acquisitions in ourEnergy business for a maximum consideration of £10.84 million: APA based inCanada (1 February), SARP in Australia (15 March) and Geocon in the UK (29March). These businesses all operate internationally and reinforce the momentumand reputation we already have in this market. The opportunities in the UK and Ireland for our Planning and Developmentbusinesses remain good. The Planning and Energy White Papers published this weekby the UK Government put in place a framework to bring forward more transportand energy infrastructure projects. The recent five year plan in Ireland setsout a programme for major investment in infrastructure. These policies arelikely to be beneficial for RPS. We are also making encouraging progress inthis sector in Australia. Within Environmental Management our water and nuclearsafety businesses have performed well and our business in the Netherlands lookslikely to benefit from the continued improvement in the economy. A number of our activities are beginning to benefit from heightened concernabout climate change. In particular, securing the permissions, licenses andconsents which enable the construction of capital projects now requires anunderstanding of the likely greenhouse gas emissions of proposed schemes.Developers also need to ensure attempts have been made to reduce those emissionsthrough appropriate site selection and layout, building design and accessarrangements. Once constructed, there is greater focus upon the environmentaland energy management of facilities and the health and safety of people. Thesetrends play to the strengths of our Planning and Development and EnvironmentalManagement businesses and complement our work in the Energy sector for oil andgas and renewable energy producers. The Board is encouraged by progress so far this year and, as energy andenvironmental issues become more important, remains confident about prospectsfor the full year. 24 May 2007 ENQUIRIES RPS Group plc Tel: 01235 438009Dr Alan Hearne, Chief ExecutiveGary Young, Group FD College Hill Tel: 020 7457 2020Justine WarrenMatthew Smallwood RPS is an international consultancy providing advice upon the development ofnatural resources, land and property, the management of the environment and thehealth and safety of people. We trade in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands,Poland, North America and Australia and undertake projects in many other partsof the world. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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