Interserve, the international support services and construction group, announces its half-year results for the six months ended 30 June 2014.
| H1 2014 | H1 2013 | Change | |
| Revenue | £1,374.8m | £1,068.2m | +28.7% |
| Total operating profit*
Headline pre-tax profit* |
£53.7m
£50.2m |
£39.5m
£36.8m |
+35.9%
+36.4% |
| Headline earnings per share* | 27.5p | 21.4p | +28.5% |
| Interim dividend
Cash/(net debt) |
7.5p
(£243.1m) |
6.8p
£0.7m |
+10.3% |
Highlights
- Strong organic growth – 15.4% in total operating profit, 14.5% in earnings per share and 9.1% in revenue
- Well positioned for future growth with future workload up to £7.5 billion (FY 2013: £6.4 billion) and £2 billion of new contracts secured in the period
- Long-term funding secured through US$350 million private placement
- £300 million pension buy-in (completed 1 August) to reduce volatility on around 35% of the Interserve Pension Scheme’s liabilities
- Acquired businesses performing well and integrations on track
- Key contract wins with both new and existing clients including the Ministry of Defence, Foreign & Commonwealth Office (France), Education Funding Agency, Mercedes-Benz, Qatar Shell GTL, ExxonMobil, University of Birmingham, Christie NHS Foundation Trust, Doha Festival City (Qatar) and Halliburton (Abu Dhabi).
Chief Executive Adrian Ringrose commented:
“It has been a very good first half of the year for Interserve. We have delivered strong organic growth, achieved through robust performances from our UK Support Services and Construction businesses and excellent results in Equipment Services.
“Market conditions in International Construction and Support Services continue to be highly competitive, although we are now starting to see signs of improving demand.
“Our strong organic growth was complemented by the performance of our acquisitions. Initial Facilities traded in line with our expectations during the period and its integration is progressing smoothly.
“Our financial position remains strong which, together with our growing future workload, underpins the Board’s confidence in our positive outlook and the increase in the interim dividend to 7.5 pence.”