27 September 2010
Global infrastructure and advisory services specialist, WYG Group has announced a £7.2m operating profit* in its full year results during a year of great change for the consultancy.
A major capital restructuring was successfully completed, the future strategic direction and organisation of the Group was established, and costs were significantly reduced in response to very difficult market conditions in UK and Ireland.
Paul Hamer, Chief Executive Officer, WYG Group, said: “Good progress was made in implementing our three-part strategy which we embarked on in January 2009. It focuses on creating a more efficient business structure that is fit for purpose, globalising of our core capabilities and creating service excellence in our chosen markets and geographies.”
Against this background, WYG’s revenue has reduced from £261.6m to £220.6m, however cash generation has been strong.
Paul said: “The overseas markets in which we operate have proved more resilient than some of our domestic markets and I am pleased to report that overseas revenue has grown by £12.5m to £65.3m – which is a record for WYG.”
A comprehensive strategic review of the company was also conducted in the year. “This highlighted a number of areas where we can build on our strong market position and some new areas where we have the skills and resources to attain a substantial place in the market,” added Paul.
“To do this we began the process of reshaping our operations from a geographic business unit structure to one based on capability such that each area of activity is managed on a global basis. Our ambition is that the Group operates in a seamless and “boundary-less” manner on a global platform across all our operations to meet the needs and ambitions of our clients.”
Going forward, WYG will be focused and report in four key global market segments, namely Buildings & Critical Infrastructure; Transport Solutions; Energy, Sustainability & Environment; and Risk & Assurance Services.
In the year, WYG won the biggest global programme of work in the history of the Group – a four-year €15.3m programme of work, funded by the European Commission, to restore and upgrade transport, environment and energy infrastructure across the Western Balkans.
In addition, the consultancy has opened overseas offices in Bosnia & Herzegovina, a subsidiary company in Croatia and expect to open a further subsidiary company in South Africa soon to support further its growth in these countries going forward.
Paul said: “Although domestic markets have been and remain very challenging, we continue to support and grow strong relationships with our existing domestic clients.
“Whilst we expect domestic markets to remain very challenging and unpredictable for the foreseeable future, we are encouraged by the way in which some important overseas markets for our services are growing and this should partially mitigate the effect of the difficulties in the UK and Irish markets.
“Looking ahead, our ambition is to continue on our journey which will see us offering technical expertise across global markets and to capture market share by serving our existing and new clients well in each of our chosen markets. It is a critical thread of our three-part strategy to leverage our growing global position to create greater geographical and end-market diversity.”
* operating profit before exceptional and other items
Financial summary:
Decrease in revenue to £220.6m (2009: £261.6m)
Operating profit before exceptional and other items of £7.2m (2009: £17.0m)
Net debt of £33.9m (2009: £85.3m) reflecting strong cash generation through improved working capital management
Decrease in adjusted profit before tax (excluding the amortisation of acquired intangible and exceptional items) to £2.0m (2009: £12.1m)
International revenue increased to £65.3m (2009: £52.8m) - order book stands at £75.5m
Decrease in net order book to £215m at 30 June 2010 (2009: £260m)
Exceptional and other items charge of £23.8m in respect of redundancies and office closure costs, the further write down of WIP and trade receivable balances in Ireland, the write off of a significant investment in the management information systems upgrade and the impairment of goodwill
Loss before tax of £21.9m (2009: £128.9m)
Loss per share of 31p (2009: 223.6p)
