13th Apr 2005 07:00
Atkins (WS) PLC13 April 2005 NEWS RELEASE WS Atkins plc Tel: +44 (0)1372 726140 Woodcote Grove, Ashley Road Fax: +44 (0)1372 740055 Epsom, Surrey KT18 5BW [email protected] United Kingdom www.atkinsglobal.com 13 April 2005 WS Atkins plc Trading Update WS Atkins plc ('Atkins' or 'the Group') announces its trading update for theyear ended 31 March 2005 in advance of its preliminary results announcement on21 June 2005. The Group as a whole performed well despite the previously identified slow downin the Rail market. It is anticipated that the growth in Adjusted Profit (2)before tax for the year ended 31 March 2005 will be in line with expectations. Business Segments In Transport, performance has, as expected, been affected by delays in plannedcapital expenditure by both Network Rail and the Highways Agency. However, theGroup has recently been selected as lead bidder by Network Rail for twoimportant rail re-signalling projects both of which are to be designed and builtover the next two years. In addition, the Group has won a contract to design thewidening of part of the M1 and a five-year term contract for providing highwayconsultancy services to Birmingham City Council. Despite short-term challenges,the medium-term outlook for the Transport segment remains positive. In Design and Engineering Solutions, performance has been strong. Our coreskills are in demand and margins have improved. Across the business, orderintake has been good with a number of significant contract wins, includingpreferred bidder for United Utilities on its AMP4 programme. The Group's Middle East operation is expanding rapidly and we believe that themarket in China will present good long-term opportunities. In Management and Project Services, there has been a strong performance fromManagement Consultants. Faithful & Gould continues to improve its margins andthe performance in the UK has been good. The US market remains challenging and,although recent contract wins provide some encouragement, the carrying value ofthis business is under review. As part of the Holdfast consortium, the Group wasrecently announced as preferred bidder for the RSME PFI contract. In Equity Investments, Lambert Smith Hampton has performed satisfactorily. Theresults of Metronet are expected to be in line with expectations reflectingsatisfactory operating performance. As separately announced, John Weight willstep down as Chairman and Chief Executive of Metronet and the role of ChiefExecutive and Chairman will now be separated. Andrew Lezala, former ChiefOperating Officer of Jarvis plc, has been appointed to the role of ChiefExecutive and Keith Clarke, our Chief Executive, will take on the role ofnon-executive Chairman as the Metronet shareholder representative. The Board issatisfied that the strength of the Atkins management team enables Keith Clarketo take on this role and that this will be in the best interests of bothMetronet and Atkins. Work on the capital programme is currently behind original expectations butfurther progress is now being made. Our Staff According to a recent study in The Sunday Times, Atkins is one of the Top 10 bigcompanies to work for. In 2005, for the fifth consecutive year, Atkins was thenumber one consultant in the Consultants File, published by New Civil Engineer("NCE"). In addition, Atkins was also awarded the title of Major Firm of theYear for 2005 by NCE. Outlook The Group will continue to be selective in its approach to new contracts andmigrate towards higher margin activities. The outlook for 2005/6 for the Group'score markets is good despite the anticipated short-term challenges in the Railbusiness. Enquiries Atkins +44 (0)1372 726140Keith ClarkeChief Executive Robert MacLeodGroup Finance Director Brunswick +44 (0)20 7404 5959Mike Smith, Deborah Done Notes to Editors 1. Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com) plans, designs and enables the delivery ofcomplex infrastructure and buildings for clients in the public and privatesectors across the world. Atkins is the largest multi-disciplinary consultancyin Europe; the largest engineering consultancy in the UK; and the seventhlargest design firm in the world. 2. Adjusted profit is before amortisation of the pension deficit and goodwilland Employee Benefit Trusts. Ends This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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