1st Jul 2010 07:00
Interior Services Group PLC
("ISG" or "the Group")
Pre Close Trading Statement
The ISG Board is pleased to announce that trading for the year ended 30 June 2010 has remained resilient in-line with management expectations. Our UK businesses have performed strongly ahead of expectations and this has offset a delay in the expected pick up in international markets.
The current order book stands at circa £740m (June 2009 - £822m), of which £680m (June 2009 - £686m) relates to the financial year ending 30 June 2011. ISG's balance sheet remains sound and we expect to finish the year with a strong cash position in excess of £28m.
In London Fit Out, we saw some recovery in revenues but with a highly competitive market place margins were under pressure. Our Retail business, through its focus on financial and food retail, has maintained revenues in-line with prior year, with margins improving in the second half of the year. Our UK Construction business performed strongly due to increased margins, despite lower revenues.
At the interim results the Board reported that international markets continued to challenge but predicted a pick up in the second half of the year. Delay to the start of projects by our multinational clients continued to be a feature in our overseas operations, however we saw a marked improvement in activity in the last quarter. Unlike our other overseas operations the Japanese market has shown no sign of recovery in the investment plans of our multinational clients and as a result we have decided to discontinue our operations in Japan at a total loss for the year of £0.8m.
In a challenging market, the Group's diversification strategy continues to position itself towards more resilient regions and sectors. ISG's activity is currently split 70% private sector and 30% public sector. We will continue to pursue growth opportunities both organically and by acquisition in our three principal markets of Fit Out, Retail and UK Construction.
The preliminary results will be announced on 8 September 2010.
1 July 2010
Interior Services Group plc |
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David Lawther, Chief Executive |
020 7392 5250 |
Jonathan Houlton, Group Finance Director |
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College Hill |
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Matthew Smallwood, Adam Aljewicz |
020 7457 2020 |
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Numis Securities Ltd |
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Nominated Advisor: Michael Meade, Simon Blank |
020 7260 1000 |
Corporate Broking: Rupert Krefting, Ben Stoop |
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Related Shares:
ISG.L