12th May 2014 07:00
WATERMAN GROUP PLC INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
Waterman Group plc ("Waterman" or "the Group"), the engineering and environmental consultant, today releases its Interim Management Statement for the period from 1st January 2014 to date.
Overall the Group is performing in line with expectations and we remain on track to deliver on our three year strategic objective to triple adjusted profit before tax.
During the year we have recruited an additional 145 engineers and environmental consultants to service our growing workload. We currently employ 979 staff in the UK, an increase of 18% since June 2013 and an increase of 10% since 31 December 2013.
The London property market has continued to remain strong, particularly in the residential and commercial sectors, and our leading position in this market underpins our trading position and future prospects.
Our developer clients in the retail sector are moving forward with many projects. Outside of London, over 75,000m2 of retail development have commenced on site since January 2014 at Victoria Gate, Leeds for Hammerson and Friars Walk, Newport for Queensbury Real Estate.
We are currently completing tender designs for the 100,000m2 retail development at Westgate Oxford for Land Securities and The Crown Estate which involves 70,000m2 of new build and refurbishment of the existing 30,000m2 centre.
Our Civil and Transportation businesses are suffering from a lack of UK regional commissions. Delivering improved results from this segment is a key element of achieving the Board's medium term profit targets. However, an improved performance from our majority-owned Australian operations is compensating for the current shortfall within Civil and Transportation.
In Ireland, we continue to experience an increase in opportunities in the residential and commercial markets in and around Dublin.
Overseas, our withdrawal from the Group's offices in Dubai and Moscow is proceeding as planned as we finalise contractual arrangements with our clients.
Overall, the Group is continuing to make progress with its strategy to focus primarily on mature markets with over 85% of its revenue in the current financial year being generated from UK clients.
Nick Taylor, Chief Executive, commented:
"This has been a further strong period for Waterman. Our project pipeline continues to improve, particularly in the retail space, where we have been working on projects with a number of high quality, blue-chip companies."
"Our core markets continue to perform well and we remain committed to focusing the majority of resources in the UK."
"The ongoing restructuring will over the medium term, we expect, both enhance our service offering and generate increasing returns for shareholders."
-ENDS-
Date: 12 May 2014
For further information please contact: Waterman Group plc |
Nick Taylor, Chief Executive |
Alex Steele, Chief Financial Officer |
020-7928-7888 |
Web: www.watermangroup.com |
|
Broker Profile |
Simon Courtenay |
020-7448-3244 |
|
N+1 Singer |
Sandy Fraser |
020-7496-3178 |
|
Related Shares:
WTM.L