15th Jan 2007 07:01
Carillion PLC15 January 2007 15 January 2007 Trading update Support services and construction company, Carillion plc, is providing thisupdate on trading in 2006 ahead of its preliminary results announcement on 7March 2007. Trading conditions in the second half of 2006 have remained positive, cashgeneration continues to be strong and further good progress has been made withthe integration of the Carillion and Mowlem businesses, which is nowsubstantially complete. Consequently, Carillion expects to build on its goodfirst-half performance and deliver earnings ahead of the current consensusforecast. As a result of the Group's focus on cash management, average debt in 2006 isexpected to be around £110 million, well below the £200 million expected at thetime of acquiring Mowlem. Net debt at 31 December is expected to beapproximately £112 million. The sale of eight equity investments in Public Private Partnership projects,announced in our 2006 Interim Results statement, was successfully completed on18 October and generated an exceptional profit of £22 million. As previouslyannounced, exceptional costs relating to the integration of Mowlem and therestructuring of Carillion Rail are expected to be approximately £20 million.Since the half-year, construction of the Exeter schools PPP project and DublinPort Tunnel have been completed and both are now operational. The Group has continued to win substantial new orders in its chosen markets andthe value of the order book at 31 December is expected to be in the region of£16 billion. In 2007, Carillion has announced a number of further successes,including achieving financial close on South Ayrshire Schools PPP project, anextension to the Regional Prime Central contract for the Ministry of Defence andbeing appointed preferred bidder for the provision of community-based clinicalservices in North London, under the Government's Independent Sector TreatmentCentre programme. These three projects are expected to generate around £325million of revenue for the Group. Therefore, with the outlook in the Group's main markets expected to remainpositive, the Board believes that Carillion is on track to deliver materiallyenhanced earnings in 2007. Carillion chief executive, John McDonough, will host a conference call on thisannouncement for analysts and investors at 09.00 today. The telephone number tojoin the conference call is 020 8515 2300. For further informationJohn Denning, Director Group Corporate Affairs, Carillion plc on 01902 316426 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Carillion Plc