Don't pay just to have an ISA. Find out more
(DRV.L) Driver Group PLC Buy/Sell
Add to portfolio Set Alert Level 2 Desktop Trader
Summary
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date/Time | Headline | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 24-02-10 | RNS |
|
|
RNS Number : 6363H Driver Group plc 24 February 2010 Driver Group plc ("Driver" or "the Company") 24 February 2010 Result of Annual General Meeting Driver announces that, at the Annual General Meeting of the Company held on 24 February 2010, all resolutions were duly passed. Enquiries:
This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END
RAGEAXALAEFEEFF More |
||
| 24-02-10 | RNS |
|
|
RNS Number : 5569H Driver Group plc 24 February 2010
DRV 24 February 2010
DRIVER GROUP PLC ("Driver" or "the Group")
AGM STATEMENT Driver, which provides a broad range of consultancy services to the construction and engineering industries, will be holding its Annual General Meeting later today. At the meeting, Executive Chairman, Steve Driver, will make the following statement, "At the time of Driver's preliminary results, we stated that we expected the UK market to remain tough in the current financial year and that our efforts would focus on developing the international growth opportunities available to us. In order to support our overseas growth plans this year, we also announced that we were planning to invest an additional c£1m in business development. The benefits of this investment are expected to be felt in the next financial year and beyond. "Trading over the first half to date has been in line with our expectations. While the UK has remained challenging, we are pleased with the progress we are making internationally and we are particularly encouraged by the increasing number of tendering opportunities in both Africa and the wider Middle East. In line with our stated overseas strategy we have now opened a fourth office in the Middle East, in Qatar, and have secured a contract on a large scale project in Africa. This contract represents our first major agreement in Africa and we see good growth potential in this region. "In line with market expectations, and reflecting the timing of the investment in our overseas expansion strategy, the Group is likely to report a loss at the half-year stage. This position is expected to reverse in the second half of the financial year resulting in a profit for the full year. We look forward to updating shareholders on further progress with the interim results in June."
Enquiries:
This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END
AGMEALADADAEEFF More |
||
| 19-01-10 | RNS |
|
This news article is displayed preformatted as it may contain results tables
RNS Number : 7469F
Driver Group plc
19 January 2010
DRV
19 January 2010
DRIVER GROUP PLC
("Driver" or "the Group")
Preliminary Results
for the Year to 30 September 2009
Driver provides specialist commercial & dispute resolution services
to the construction and engineering industries.
Key Points
* Creditable trading figures in very difficult economic environment
* Revenues increased by 13% to £20.5m (2008: £18.2m)
- strong overseas growth; Middle East revenues up 85% to £5.75m (2008: £3.10m)
- difficult UK markets, particularly in northern region
* Underlying* profit before tax of £1.11m (2008: £2.08m)
- Reported profit before tax of £1.05m (£1.98m)
- Middle East segmental profits up by 80% to £0.97m (2008: £0.54m)
* Underlying* earnings per share of 3.4p (2008: 6.3p).
- Reported earnings per share of 3.2p (2008: 5.8p)
* Strong operating cash flow performance
* Strong balance sheet with net borrowings of just £0.2m (2008: £0.2m)
* Final dividend of 1.00p per share proposed (2008: 2.00p) taking total to 2.00p (2008: 2.95p)
* Significant operational changes implemented in Q4 - as part of three year growth plan
* Further revenue investment of c£1m planned in current financial year to support new growth plan and in particular the development of overseas business
* Current financial year viewed as year of strategic investment with benefits to flow through in the following year and beyond
* underlying figures are stated before the share-based payment charge
Steve Driver, Executive Chairman of Driver, commenting on the results, said,
"Against a very challenging trading backdrop, especially in the second half of the year, I am pleased to report that Driver Group generated a pre-tax profit of £1.1m on sales of £20.5m. While conditions in our core UK market were generally very difficult, we saw continuing strong growth in our overseas business, especially the Middle East where sales rose by 85%.
Looking ahead, we see interesting growth opportunities over the next three years, especially in developing our international presence. Over the current financial year we have planned for an additional £1m of revenue investment, in excess of our usual budget levels, in support of our expansion strategy. We therefore view this financial year as one of strategic investment, with the benefits to come through in the next financial year and beyond."
Enquiries:
Driver Group plc Steve Driver, Executive T: 020 7448 1000 (today)
Chairman T: 01706 223999
Dave Webster, Chief Executive
officer
Colin White, Finance Director
Zeus Capital Limited Alex Clarkson T: 0161 831 1512
(Nomad) Nick Cowles
W H Ireland Limited Rachel Newton T: 0113 394 6600
(Broker)
Biddicks Katie Tzouliadis T: 020 7448 1000
CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT
Introduction
Against a very challenging trading backdrop, especially in the second half of the year, I am pleased to report that Driver Group generated a pre-tax profit of £1.1m on sales of £20.5m. While conditions in our core UK market were generally very difficult, especially in the north of England, we saw continuing strong growth in our overseas business. In total, sales from our Middle East business rose by 85% and accounted for approximately 28% (2008: 17%) of the Group's revenue for the year. In more challenging markets, the Group benefited from its breadth of service offering and an area of focus for us was the growth of our expert witness services both in the UK and Middle East.
In August, we were pleased to announce significant changes to the Group's operational structure as well as changes to the Board. These changes took effect after the year end, on 1 October 2009, and are part of our plans to develop the business for growth over the next three years.
Financial Results
Revenue over the twelve months to 30 September 2009 increased by 13% to £20.5m (2008: £18.2m). Underlying* profit before taxation fell by £0.97m to £1.11m from £2.08m in 2008. This is stated after the impact of a charge of £0.3m for bad and doubtful debts (2008: £0.1m) and one-off costs relating to cost base reductions amounting to £0.2m (2008: nil). After deducting the IFRS 2 charge for share-based payments which totalled £59,000 (2008: £97,000), reported profit before tax was £1.05m (2008: £1.98m).
Underlying* earnings per share were 3.4 pence (2008: 6.3 pence). After deducting the share based payments charge, reported earnings per share were 3.2 pence (2008: 5.8 pence).
Cash generation remained healthy with net cash inflow from operating activities of £1.09m (2008: £1.39m). The Group's net borrowing position at the end of the year stood at £0.2m, largely unchanged from the prior year position (30 September 2008: net borrowings of £0.2m) and an improvement on the net borrowing position on 31 March 2009 of £0.93m.
*underlying figures are stated before the share-based payment charge
Dividend
The Board is pleased to recommend the payment of a final dividend of 1.00p per share (2008: 2.00p per share). This makes a total dividend for the year of 2.00p (2008: 2.95p). The final dividend will be paid on 18 March to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 26 February.
Trading Overview
The trading environment during the financial year has been very challenging reflecting the wider economic conditions.
Trading by Driver Consult in the UK, which accounted for approximately 53% of Group revenues, was mixed. Our London office and the Southern regions performed in line with management expectations, supported by growth in expert services work. By contrast, the performance of the northern region was significantly below management projections due to the weakness of the regional construction market, although we did see growth in the provision of services to financial institutions involved with distressed or insolvent businesses.
The Group is continuing to expand strongly overseas, especially in the Middle East, which was the main focus of our international push. Revenues from the Middle East accounted for 28% of the Group's total and showed year on year growth of 85%, from £3.1m to £5.8m, with segmental profits increasing by 80%. Although the construction industry in Dubai has been severely affected by the global recession, the expansion of our activities in Oman and Abu Dhabi more than offset the impact and we benefited, in particular, from increases in expert witness services. While we experienced some delays in the commencement of expected contracts in the second half, prospects for continuing growth in the region remain very good. Government spend on infrastructure projects and public works remains at very high levels.
Commercial Management Consultants ("CMC"), which we acquired in February 2008, performed well, helped by its focus on providing project services to substantial infrastructure projects in the South of England.
Board and Operational Changes
A number of changes to the structure of both the Group and the Board took effect on 1 October 2009. At Board level, Mike Davis retired as Chairman while continuing as a Non-Executive Director and retaining responsibility as Chairman of the Audit and Remuneration Committees. Mike had been Chairman since he joined the Board in October 2005 and helped to steer the business through its AIM flotation. I would like to thank Mike personally for his leadership of the Board over these four years. In taking up the position of Executive Chairman, I was delighted to hand over the position of Chief Executive Officer to Dave Webster, previously Chief Operating Officer. Dave has been instrumental in the Group's successful development to date, having joined the business in 2000.
We also made important changes to the Group's operational structure and reporting lines, creating five new business units. These new business units comprise Middle East, International, Expert Services, Consultancy Services (UK) and Project Services. Each unit is led by a highly experienced managing director and all have been involved with the development of Driver over a number of years. This restructuring is part of our plan to position the Group for growth over the next three years. We will be making further investment in the senior management team over the coming year in order to support the development of our international operations.
Outlook
While conditions are tougher, we believe that there are interesting growth opportunities available to us over the next three years. The organisational restructuring which we have put in place is the first step in developing these opportunities. Building on our growing presence in the Middle East, we see scope to deliver our expert services, consultancy and project services offering in new territories in the Middle East as well as in other geographic markets, including Africa, the Far East and Asia. The client relationships we have with international contracting and engineering companies will assist this process. Over the course of the current financial year, we expect to invest c£1m in our expansion strategy, including the recruitment of key personnel for new market sectors. The Board therefore views the current financial year as a year of strategic investment, with the attendant beneficial effect on revenues and profitability coming through in the next financial year and beyond. With these strategic initiatives in place we believe that the Group is positioned to deliver a strong performance in the coming years.
Steve Driver
Executive Chairman
CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REPORT
Introduction
The year has proven to be a testing period as the impact of the global economic downturn was felt across the construction and engineering industries. The impact for us was most evident in the UK and Dubai, where live construction and engineering projects declined significantly. Against that, we continued to experience strong growth in the Middle East overall, especially in Oman. Revenues from the Middle East increased by 85% year on year and the growth in our overseas business over the last two years now means that our foreign earnings contribute a significant proportion of the Group's overall profits. Our focus on developing our expert witness and litigation support services across all our geographic operations has been successful and we expect this work to continue to increase over the coming year.
Driver Consult
Driver Consult is the principle trading subsidiary of the Group and provides dispute resolution and commercial management services to the construction and engineering industry in the UK, Middle East and Internationally. The results for the subsidiary are reported in two segments: Driver Consult UK, which includes domestic and international operations which are serviced from the UK, and Driver Consult Middle East.
During the year there was a significant decline in the UK and Dubai commercial building sectors and our services to live projects in these sectors reduced accordingly. In reacting to changing market conditions, a major aim has been to refocus our capability and resources on the wider international market and to expand our expert services offering. We have started to see the benefits of this refocusing, which has helped to offset the decline in the broader UK market. Our operations in the Middle East, excluding Dubai, grew strongly over the year, particularly in Oman where we also started to widen our service offering.
UK
Our UK offices are grouped into the three regions, Northern, Midlands & South-West, and London & South-East.
Revenue in the London & South-East region increased by 6% in the year. This region is the primary home of our expert witness services and our revenue growth reflected our efforts to increase our share of the expert witness marketplace. We continue to project growth in London and, in order to accommodate this, moved our London operations into larger premises.
The Northern and Midlands & South-West regions experienced a 22% decline in revenue following the downturn of work in the construction and engineering industries during the year. We have positioned our operations in these regions to focus on the power, energy and utility sectors but are currently not projecting significant recovery during the course of the current financial year to 30 September 2010.
Our Corporate Services business is accounted for within the Northern region. This division provides services to the banking, accountancy and insolvency sectors and, as would be expected in the current environment, revenues from Corporate Services increased over the year. The major part of our work was undertaken for Administrators managing the administration of construction companies. We anticipate continuing growth from Corporate Services during the coming year and expect to add fee-earning resource to support this. The business is also well positioned for due diligence and project monitoring work for banks and other lenders when the construction market recovers.
International (reported within the UK segment)
During the year, this business area generated revenue of £1.8m at a 21% margin. We view the wider international arena, outside our existing operations in the Middle East, as offering excellent potential for expansion and have started to position Driver Consult accordingly, leveraging our existing client relationships.
We are investing in senior managers to develop such markets as Africa, the Far East and Asia, and looking further into the future, South America. We also see the larger international projects as a source for providing services wider than our current offering and we are looking to secure work of a more strategic consultancy nature; to this end we will invest in a senior manager with experience and contacts in this area.
Middle East
Revenues from the Middle East increased by 85% and segmental profits rose by 80% and the region now represents a material and growing revenue stream. The services we provide in the region are wider than those we currently provide in the UK. They cover contract document preparation, employer's representative roles and contract administration as well as the claims, dispute and expert witness services traditionally provided in the UK. The success of these wider services has prompted plans to widen the service offering across the whole Group in future years.
The media has reported widely on the turbulent market in Dubai and our experience over the period reflected this, with all our appointments on live project services terminated during late 2008 and early 2009. However, our live project services work in Abu Dhabi was not affected and during the remainder of the year the Dubai market saw an increase in demand for our dispute resolution services. Our business in the United Arab Emirates as a whole therefore experienced an increase in revenue of 17% in the year.
Our Oman business has continued to grow significantly in the year with revenue increasing fourfold, from £0.8m to £3m, and segmental profits rising five-fold from £0.2m to £1m. In fact, revenue and profit would have been higher had a major dispute, on which we were providing expert services, not settled earlier than expected, in June 2009. Our primary clients are the Omani government, where we work for several governmental ministries, and major contracting organisations. The performance of this office is particularly pleasing given that it was only opened in the previous financial year.
Commercial Management Consultants ("CMC")
The integration of CMC has been successful and the business delivered its first full year trading contribution since its acquisition in February 2008. During the year, we merged CMC's Dartford office with the Group's London office resulting in reduced overheads. This completed the office merger programme, which commenced the previous year when CMC's Glasgow and Manchester offices were merged with existing Group offices.
While CMC has been affected by the decline in the live project market in the UK, its focus on larger infrastructure projects around London and the South-East has largely insulated the business from much of the impact. Revenue and profits have been maintained at full year underlying levels similar to the previous year.
We see opportunities to expand the business into the industrial and process plant maintenance sectors and to widen the services CMC offers to include project planning. We also have plans to develop CMC in Europe using our contacts established in our Driver Consult International Operations and a new Managing Director has been identified to deliver this strategy.
Outlook
We do not anticipate any overall growth in the UK market in the near term. Although it is expected that our expert witness and litigation support services will grow, this is unlikely to offset the continued decline in the services we offer to the live construction and engineering sectors.
The Middle East region is set to continue to grow and we are looking at opportunities to develop into other countries in the region adopting the successful model in place in Oman. We will also seek to expand our staff levels providing dispute resolution and expert witness services in the region.
Our longer term plans are to position the Group as a global construction management consultant and over the course of this coming year, we will continue to implement our initiatives to position ourselves for these longer term aims as well as ensure that the Group is best able to face the challenges in the current economic climate, particularly in the UK and Europe. In focusing on overseas expansion, we expect to be active in Europe, the Middle East and Africa during the coming year and are seeking a point of entry into the Far East and Asia . We will also be investing in senior managers with a track record of providing the wider consultancy services we seek to offer.
We have planned for an additional £1m of revenue investment in excess of our usual budget levels for business development, and anticipate that our track record to-date of successfully expanding the Group will hold us in good stead for this future development. These plans are set out over a three year period and we look forward to reporting on the successful progress towards this aim during the coming year.
Dave Webster
Chief Executive Officer
DRIVER GROUP PLC
CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2009
Notes 2009 2008
£000 £000
REVENUE 3, 4 20,539 18,149
Cost of sales (14,612) (11,660)
GROSS PROFIT 5,927 6,489
Administrative expenses (5,004) (4,581)
Other operating income 146 120
OPERATING PROFIT
- before share based payment 1,128 2,125
- Share-based payment (59) (97)
3, 4 1,069 2,028
Finance income 13 14
Finance expenses (30) (62)
PROFIT BEFORE TAXATION 1,052 1,980
Taxation (276) (571)
PROFIT FOR THE YEAR 776 1,409
(Loss) / profit attributable to minority (5) 11
interests
Profit attributable to equity shareholders 781 1,398
776 1,409
Basic earnings per share (pence) 2 3.2p 5.8p
Diluted earnings per share (pence) 2 3.2p 5.8p
The profit for the year arises from the Group's continuing operations.
DRIVER GROUP PLC
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
30 SEPTEMBER 2009
2009 2008
£000 £000 £000 £000
NON-CURRENT ASSETS
Goodwill 2,356 2,356
Property, plant and equipment 3,173 3,059
Deferred tax asset 52 37
5,581 5,452
CURRENT ASSETS
Trade and other receivables 4,539 4,823
Cash and cash equivalents 687 1,054
5,226 5,877
TOTAL ASSETS 10,807 11,329
CURRENT LIABILITIES
Borrowings (13) (219)
Trade and other payables (2,391) (2,380)
Current tax payable (133) (361)
(2,537) (2,960)
NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES
Borrowings (838) (1,000)
Deferred tax liabilities (292) (309)
(1,130) (1,309)
TOTAL LIABILITIES (3,667) (4,269)
NET ASSETS 7,140 7,060
SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Share capital 106 106
Share premium 2,649 2,649
Merger reserve 1,493 1,493
Translation reserve (24) -
Capital redemption reserve 18 18
Share based payment reserve - 187
Retained earnings 4,134 3,838
Own shares (1,242) (1,242)
TOTAL SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY 7,134 7,049
MINORITY INTEREST IN EQUITY 6 11
TOTAL EQUITY 7,140 7,060
DRIVER GROUP PLC
CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2009
Year ended Year ended
30 September 2009 30 September 2008
£000 £000
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES
Profit before taxation
- before share-based payments 1,111 2,077
- share-based payments (59) (97)
1,052 1,980
Adjustments for:
Depreciation 216 170
Exchange adjustments - (65)
Finance income (13) (14)
Finance expense 30 62
Equity settled share-based payment 59 97
expense
_________ _________
OPERATING CASH FLOW BEFORE CHANGES IN
WORKING CAPITAL AND PROVISIONS 1,344 2,230
_________ _________
Decrease / (increase) in trade and 260 (875)
other receivables
Increase in trade and other payables 11 602
_________ _________
CASH GENERATED FROM OPERATIONS 1,615 1,957
Taxation paid (527) (563)
_________ _________
NET CASH INFLOW FROM OPERATING 1,088 1,394
ACTIVITIES
_________ _________
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Finance income received 13 14
Acquisition of subsidiary net of cash - (1,003)
acquired
Acquisition of property, plant and (330) (111)
equipment
_________ _________
NET CASH OUTFLOW FROM INVESTING (317) (1,100)
ACTIVITIES
_________ _________
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Finance expense paid (30) (62)
Borrowings (368) 590
Payment of equity dividends (740) (688)
_________ _________
NET CASH OUTFLOW FROM FINANCING (1,138) (160)
ACTIVITIES
_________ _________
Net (decrease) / increase in cash and (367) 134
cash equivalents
Effect of foreign exchange on cash - 65
and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at start of 1,054 855
period
_________ _________
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT END OF 687 1,054
PERIOD
_________ _________
DRIVER GROUP PLC
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2009
Sharecapital Sharepremium Mergerreserve Otherreserves(1) Retainedearnings Ownshares Total Minority interest TotalEquity
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
OPENINGBALANCE AT 01 OCTOBER 99 2,649 - 112 3,086 (1,242) 4,704 16 4,720
2007
Deferred tax credit on - - - - 26 - 26 - 26
property revaluation
NET INCOME RECOGNISED DIRECTLY - - - - 26 - 26 - 26
IN EQUITY
Profit for the year - - - - 1,398 - 1,398 11 1,409
TOTAL RECOGNISED INCOME AND - - - - 1,424 - 1,424 11 1,435
EXPENSE
Issue of new shares 7 - 1,493 - - - 1,500 - 1,500
Dividends - - - - (672) - (672) (16) (688)
Share based payment - - - 93 - - 93 - 93
CLOSING BALANCE AT 30 106 2,649 1,493 205 3,838 (1,242) 7,049 11 7,060
SEPTEMBER 2008
Deferred tax credit on - - - - 9 - 9 - 9
property revaluation
Exchange adjustment - - - (24) - - (24) - (24)
NET INCOME RECOGNISED DIRECTLY - - - (24) 9 - (15) - (15)
IN EQUITY
Profit for the year - - - - 781 - 781 (5) 776
TOTAL RECOGNISED INCOME AND - - - (24) 790 - 766 (5) 761
EXPENSE
Dividends - - - - (740) - (740) - (740)
Share based payment - - - - 59 - 59 - 59
Transfer of reserves(2) - - - (187) 187 - - - -
BALANCE AT 30
SEPTEMBER 2009 106 2,649 1,493 (6) 4,134 (1,242) 7,134 6 7,140
(1) 'Other reserves' combines the translation reserve, capital redemption reserve and share based payment reserve.
(2) The opening balance on the share based payment reserve has been credited to retained earnings.
NOTES
1 The financial information set out in these Preliminary Results does
not constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the year ended 30
September 2009 or the year ended 30 September 2008 but is derived from
those accounts.
Statutory accounts for the year ended 30 September 2008 have been
delivered to the Registrar of Companies, and those for the year ended
30 September 2009 will be delivered following the Company's Annual
General Meeting. BDO LLP have reported on the 2009 and 2008 accounts.
Their reports were unqualified, did not include references to any
matters to which the auditors drew attention by way of emphasis
without qualifying their report, and did not contain statements under
section 498(2) or 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006 or section 237(2)
or (3) of the Companies Act 1985.
2 Earnings per share
Adjusted earnings per share before the charge for share-based payments
is 3.4p (2008: 6.3p)
The calculation of earnings per share before share-based payments is
based on earnings of £840,000 (2008: £1,520,000). Earnings after
deducting these charges are £781,000 (2008: £1,398,000). The basic and
diluted weighted average number of shares in issue for the period were
24,678,771 and 24,678,771 respectively (2008: 23,992,712 and
23,995,988 respectively).
3 Segmental analysis
The table below sets out revenue and profit by business segment:
For management purposes, the Group is organised into three operating
divisions: Driver Consult UK, Driver Consult Middle East and
Commercial Management Consultants ("CMC"). These divisions are the
basis on which the Group is structured and managed, based on its
geographical structure and principal services provided.
Year ended 30 September 2009 Continuing Operations
Driver Consult
Driver Consult UK Middle East
£000 £000
CMC Eliminations Unallocated Consolidated
£000 £000 £000 £000
Total external revenue 10,588 5,596 4,355 - - 20,539
Total inter-segment revenue 229 155 5 (389) - -
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Total revenue 10,817 5,751 4,360 (389) - 20,539
Segmental profit 1,453 974 423 - - 2,850
Unallocated corporate expenses
- - - - (1,722) (1,722)
Share option expense - - - - (59) (59)
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Operating profit 1,453 974 423 - (1,781) 1,069
Finance income - - - - 13 13
Finance expense - - - - (30) (30)
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Profit before taxation 1,453 974 423 - (1,798) 1,052
Taxation - - - - (276) (276)
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Profit for the year 1,453 974 423 - (2,074) 776
Inter-segment sales are charged at prevailing market rates.
(1) Unallocated costs represent Directors' remuneration, administration staff, corporate head office costs and expenses associated with AIM.
Revenue from one of the customers of the Driver Consult Middle East segment exceeds 10% of the Group's total revenue with revenue of £2.1m.
Year ended 30 September 2008 Continuing Operations
Driver Consult UK Driver Consult
£000 Middle East
£000
CMC Eliminations Unallocated Consolidated
£000 £000 £000 £000
Total external revenue 12,628 3,096 2,425 - - 18,149
Total inter-segment revenue 305 12 99 (416) - -
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Total revenue 12,933 3,108 2,524 (416) - 18,149
Segmental profit 2,984 537 354 - - 3,875
Unallocated corporate expenses
- - - - (1,750) (1,750)
Share option expense - - - - (97) (97)
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Operating profit 2,984 537 354 - (1,847) 2,028
Finance income - - - - 14 14
Finance expense - - - - (62) (62)
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Profit before taxation 2,984 537 354 - (1,895) 1,980
Taxation - - - - (571) (571)
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Profit for the year 2,984 537 354 - (2,466) 1,409
Revenue from one of the customers of the Driver Consult UK segment exceeds 10% of the Group's total revenue in 2008 with revenue of £2.1m.
4 GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
The Group's operations are located in the UK and the Middle East.
The following table provides an analysis of the Group's revenue by geography based upon location of the
Group's operations:
Year ended Year ended
30 September 30 September 2008
2009 £000
£000
UK 14,943 15,053
Middle East 5,596 3,096
_________ _________
20,539 18,149
5 Copies of the annual report and financial statements
The Annual Report and Financial Statements will be sent to
shareholders in due course. Further copies will be available to the
public, free of charge at the Company's registered office, Driver
House, 4 St Crispin Way, Rossendale, Lancashire, BB4 4PW and on the
Company's website, www.drivergroupplc.com.
The Annual General Meeting will be held at IoD Hub, 1st Floor, Peter
House, Oxford Street, Manchester, M1 5AN on Wednesday 24 February 2010
commencing at 3.00pm.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
FR DVLFFBFFXBBK
More |
||
| 19-01-10 | RNS |
|
This news article is displayed preformatted as it may contain results tables
RNS Number : 7469F
Driver Group plc
19 January 2010
DRV
19 January 2010
DRIVER GROUP PLC
("Driver" or "the Group")
Preliminary Results
for the Year to 30 September 2009
Driver provides specialist commercial & dispute resolution services
to the construction and engineering industries.
Key Points
* Creditable trading figures in very difficult economic environment
* Revenues increased by 13% to £20.5m (2008: £18.2m)
- strong overseas growth; Middle East revenues up 85% to £5.75m (2008: £3.10m)
- difficult UK markets, particularly in northern region
* Underlying* profit before tax of £1.11m (2008: £2.08m)
- Reported profit before tax of £1.05m (£1.98m)
- Middle East segmental profits up by 80% to £0.97m (2008: £0.54m)
* Underlying* earnings per share of 3.4p (2008: 6.3p).
- Reported earnings per share of 3.2p (2008: 5.8p)
* Strong operating cash flow performance
* Strong balance sheet with net borrowings of just £0.2m (2008: £0.2m)
* Final dividend of 1.00p per share proposed (2008: 2.00p) taking total to 2.00p (2008: 2.95p)
* Significant operational changes implemented in Q4 - as part of three year growth plan
* Further revenue investment of c£1m planned in current financial year to support new growth plan and in particular the development of overseas business
* Current financial year viewed as year of strategic investment with benefits to flow through in the following year and beyond
* underlying figures are stated before the share-based payment charge
Steve Driver, Executive Chairman of Driver, commenting on the results, said,
"Against a very challenging trading backdrop, especially in the second half of the year, I am pleased to report that Driver Group generated a pre-tax profit of £1.1m on sales of £20.5m. While conditions in our core UK market were generally very difficult, we saw continuing strong growth in our overseas business, especially the Middle East where sales rose by 85%.
Looking ahead, we see interesting growth opportunities over the next three years, especially in developing our international presence. Over the current financial year we have planned for an additional £1m of revenue investment, in excess of our usual budget levels, in support of our expansion strategy. We therefore view this financial year as one of strategic investment, with the benefits to come through in the next financial year and beyond."
Enquiries:
Driver Group plc Steve Driver, Executive T: 020 7448 1000 (today)
Chairman T: 01706 223999
Dave Webster, Chief Executive
officer
Colin White, Finance Director
Zeus Capital Limited Alex Clarkson T: 0161 831 1512
(Nomad) Nick Cowles
W H Ireland Limited Rachel Newton T: 0113 394 6600
(Broker)
Biddicks Katie Tzouliadis T: 020 7448 1000
CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT
Introduction
Against a very challenging trading backdrop, especially in the second half of the year, I am pleased to report that Driver Group generated a pre-tax profit of £1.1m on sales of £20.5m. While conditions in our core UK market were generally very difficult, especially in the north of England, we saw continuing strong growth in our overseas business. In total, sales from our Middle East business rose by 85% and accounted for approximately 28% (2008: 17%) of the Group's revenue for the year. In more challenging markets, the Group benefited from its breadth of service offering and an area of focus for us was the growth of our expert witness services both in the UK and Middle East.
In August, we were pleased to announce significant changes to the Group's operational structure as well as changes to the Board. These changes took effect after the year end, on 1 October 2009, and are part of our plans to develop the business for growth over the next three years.
Financial Results
Revenue over the twelve months to 30 September 2009 increased by 13% to £20.5m (2008: £18.2m). Underlying* profit before taxation fell by £0.97m to £1.11m from £2.08m in 2008. This is stated after the impact of a charge of £0.3m for bad and doubtful debts (2008: £0.1m) and one-off costs relating to cost base reductions amounting to £0.2m (2008: nil). After deducting the IFRS 2 charge for share-based payments which totalled £59,000 (2008: £97,000), reported profit before tax was £1.05m (2008: £1.98m).
Underlying* earnings per share were 3.4 pence (2008: 6.3 pence). After deducting the share based payments charge, reported earnings per share were 3.2 pence (2008: 5.8 pence).
Cash generation remained healthy with net cash inflow from operating activities of £1.09m (2008: £1.39m). The Group's net borrowing position at the end of the year stood at £0.2m, largely unchanged from the prior year position (30 September 2008: net borrowings of £0.2m) and an improvement on the net borrowing position on 31 March 2009 of £0.93m.
*underlying figures are stated before the share-based payment charge
Dividend
The Board is pleased to recommend the payment of a final dividend of 1.00p per share (2008: 2.00p per share). This makes a total dividend for the year of 2.00p (2008: 2.95p). The final dividend will be paid on 18 March to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 26 February.
Trading Overview
The trading environment during the financial year has been very challenging reflecting the wider economic conditions.
Trading by Driver Consult in the UK, which accounted for approximately 53% of Group revenues, was mixed. Our London office and the Southern regions performed in line with management expectations, supported by growth in expert services work. By contrast, the performance of the northern region was significantly below management projections due to the weakness of the regional construction market, although we did see growth in the provision of services to financial institutions involved with distressed or insolvent businesses.
The Group is continuing to expand strongly overseas, especially in the Middle East, which was the main focus of our international push. Revenues from the Middle East accounted for 28% of the Group's total and showed year on year growth of 85%, from £3.1m to £5.8m, with segmental profits increasing by 80%. Although the construction industry in Dubai has been severely affected by the global recession, the expansion of our activities in Oman and Abu Dhabi more than offset the impact and we benefited, in particular, from increases in expert witness services. While we experienced some delays in the commencement of expected contracts in the second half, prospects for continuing growth in the region remain very good. Government spend on infrastructure projects and public works remains at very high levels.
Commercial Management Consultants ("CMC"), which we acquired in February 2008, performed well, helped by its focus on providing project services to substantial infrastructure projects in the South of England.
Board and Operational Changes
A number of changes to the structure of both the Group and the Board took effect on 1 October 2009. At Board level, Mike Davis retired as Chairman while continuing as a Non-Executive Director and retaining responsibility as Chairman of the Audit and Remuneration Committees. Mike had been Chairman since he joined the Board in October 2005 and helped to steer the business through its AIM flotation. I would like to thank Mike personally for his leadership of the Board over these four years. In taking up the position of Executive Chairman, I was delighted to hand over the position of Chief Executive Officer to Dave Webster, previously Chief Operating Officer. Dave has been instrumental in the Group's successful development to date, having joined the business in 2000.
We also made important changes to the Group's operational structure and reporting lines, creating five new business units. These new business units comprise Middle East, International, Expert Services, Consultancy Services (UK) and Project Services. Each unit is led by a highly experienced managing director and all have been involved with the development of Driver over a number of years. This restructuring is part of our plan to position the Group for growth over the next three years. We will be making further investment in the senior management team over the coming year in order to support the development of our international operations.
Outlook
While conditions are tougher, we believe that there are interesting growth opportunities available to us over the next three years. The organisational restructuring which we have put in place is the first step in developing these opportunities. Building on our growing presence in the Middle East, we see scope to deliver our expert services, consultancy and project services offering in new territories in the Middle East as well as in other geographic markets, including Africa, the Far East and Asia. The client relationships we have with international contracting and engineering companies will assist this process. Over the course of the current financial year, we expect to invest c£1m in our expansion strategy, including the recruitment of key personnel for new market sectors. The Board therefore views the current financial year as a year of strategic investment, with the attendant beneficial effect on revenues and profitability coming through in the next financial year and beyond. With these strategic initiatives in place we believe that the Group is positioned to deliver a strong performance in the coming years.
Steve Driver
Executive Chairman
CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REPORT
Introduction
The year has proven to be a testing period as the impact of the global economic downturn was felt across the construction and engineering industries. The impact for us was most evident in the UK and Dubai, where live construction and engineering projects declined significantly. Against that, we continued to experience strong growth in the Middle East overall, especially in Oman. Revenues from the Middle East increased by 85% year on year and the growth in our overseas business over the last two years now means that our foreign earnings contribute a significant proportion of the Group's overall profits. Our focus on developing our expert witness and litigation support services across all our geographic operations has been successful and we expect this work to continue to increase over the coming year.
Driver Consult
Driver Consult is the principle trading subsidiary of the Group and provides dispute resolution and commercial management services to the construction and engineering industry in the UK, Middle East and Internationally. The results for the subsidiary are reported in two segments: Driver Consult UK, which includes domestic and international operations which are serviced from the UK, and Driver Consult Middle East.
During the year there was a significant decline in the UK and Dubai commercial building sectors and our services to live projects in these sectors reduced accordingly. In reacting to changing market conditions, a major aim has been to refocus our capability and resources on the wider international market and to expand our expert services offering. We have started to see the benefits of this refocusing, which has helped to offset the decline in the broader UK market. Our operations in the Middle East, excluding Dubai, grew strongly over the year, particularly in Oman where we also started to widen our service offering.
UK
Our UK offices are grouped into the three regions, Northern, Midlands & South-West, and London & South-East.
Revenue in the London & South-East region increased by 6% in the year. This region is the primary home of our expert witness services and our revenue growth reflected our efforts to increase our share of the expert witness marketplace. We continue to project growth in London and, in order to accommodate this, moved our London operations into larger premises.
The Northern and Midlands & South-West regions experienced a 22% decline in revenue following the downturn of work in the construction and engineering industries during the year. We have positioned our operations in these regions to focus on the power, energy and utility sectors but are currently not projecting significant recovery during the course of the current financial year to 30 September 2010.
Our Corporate Services business is accounted for within the Northern region. This division provides services to the banking, accountancy and insolvency sectors and, as would be expected in the current environment, revenues from Corporate Services increased over the year. The major part of our work was undertaken for Administrators managing the administration of construction companies. We anticipate continuing growth from Corporate Services during the coming year and expect to add fee-earning resource to support this. The business is also well positioned for due diligence and project monitoring work for banks and other lenders when the construction market recovers.
International (reported within the UK segment)
During the year, this business area generated revenue of £1.8m at a 21% margin. We view the wider international arena, outside our existing operations in the Middle East, as offering excellent potential for expansion and have started to position Driver Consult accordingly, leveraging our existing client relationships.
We are investing in senior managers to develop such markets as Africa, the Far East and Asia, and looking further into the future, South America. We also see the larger international projects as a source for providing services wider than our current offering and we are looking to secure work of a more strategic consultancy nature; to this end we will invest in a senior manager with experience and contacts in this area.
Middle East
Revenues from the Middle East increased by 85% and segmental profits rose by 80% and the region now represents a material and growing revenue stream. The services we provide in the region are wider than those we currently provide in the UK. They cover contract document preparation, employer's representative roles and contract administration as well as the claims, dispute and expert witness services traditionally provided in the UK. The success of these wider services has prompted plans to widen the service offering across the whole Group in future years.
The media has reported widely on the turbulent market in Dubai and our experience over the period reflected this, with all our appointments on live project services terminated during late 2008 and early 2009. However, our live project services work in Abu Dhabi was not affected and during the remainder of the year the Dubai market saw an increase in demand for our dispute resolution services. Our business in the United Arab Emirates as a whole therefore experienced an increase in revenue of 17% in the year.
Our Oman business has continued to grow significantly in the year with revenue increasing fourfold, from £0.8m to £3m, and segmental profits rising five-fold from £0.2m to £1m. In fact, revenue and profit would have been higher had a major dispute, on which we were providing expert services, not settled earlier than expected, in June 2009. Our primary clients are the Omani government, where we work for several governmental ministries, and major contracting organisations. The performance of this office is particularly pleasing given that it was only opened in the previous financial year.
Commercial Management Consultants ("CMC")
The integration of CMC has been successful and the business delivered its first full year trading contribution since its acquisition in February 2008. During the year, we merged CMC's Dartford office with the Group's London office resulting in reduced overheads. This completed the office merger programme, which commenced the previous year when CMC's Glasgow and Manchester offices were merged with existing Group offices.
While CMC has been affected by the decline in the live project market in the UK, its focus on larger infrastructure projects around London and the South-East has largely insulated the business from much of the impact. Revenue and profits have been maintained at full year underlying levels similar to the previous year.
We see opportunities to expand the business into the industrial and process plant maintenance sectors and to widen the services CMC offers to include project planning. We also have plans to develop CMC in Europe using our contacts established in our Driver Consult International Operations and a new Managing Director has been identified to deliver this strategy.
Outlook
We do not anticipate any overall growth in the UK market in the near term. Although it is expected that our expert witness and litigation support services will grow, this is unlikely to offset the continued decline in the services we offer to the live construction and engineering sectors.
The Middle East region is set to continue to grow and we are looking at opportunities to develop into other countries in the region adopting the successful model in place in Oman. We will also seek to expand our staff levels providing dispute resolution and expert witness services in the region.
Our longer term plans are to position the Group as a global construction management consultant and over the course of this coming year, we will continue to implement our initiatives to position ourselves for these longer term aims as well as ensure that the Group is best able to face the challenges in the current economic climate, particularly in the UK and Europe. In focusing on overseas expansion, we expect to be active in Europe, the Middle East and Africa during the coming year and are seeking a point of entry into the Far East and Asia . We will also be investing in senior managers with a track record of providing the wider consultancy services we seek to offer.
We have planned for an additional £1m of revenue investment in excess of our usual budget levels for business development, and anticipate that our track record to-date of successfully expanding the Group will hold us in good stead for this future development. These plans are set out over a three year period and we look forward to reporting on the successful progress towards this aim during the coming year.
Dave Webster
Chief Executive Officer
DRIVER GROUP PLC
CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2009
Notes 2009 2008
£000 £000
REVENUE 3, 4 20,539 18,149
Cost of sales (14,612) (11,660)
GROSS PROFIT 5,927 6,489
Administrative expenses (5,004) (4,581)
Other operating income 146 120
OPERATING PROFIT
- before share based payment 1,128 2,125
- Share-based payment (59) (97)
3, 4 1,069 2,028
Finance income 13 14
Finance expenses (30) (62)
PROFIT BEFORE TAXATION 1,052 1,980
Taxation (276) (571)
PROFIT FOR THE YEAR 776 1,409
(Loss) / profit attributable to minority (5) 11
interests
Profit attributable to equity shareholders 781 1,398
776 1,409
Basic earnings per share (pence) 2 3.2p 5.8p
Diluted earnings per share (pence) 2 3.2p 5.8p
The profit for the year arises from the Group's continuing operations.
DRIVER GROUP PLC
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
30 SEPTEMBER 2009
2009 2008
£000 £000 £000 £000
NON-CURRENT ASSETS
Goodwill 2,356 2,356
Property, plant and equipment 3,173 3,059
Deferred tax asset 52 37
5,581 5,452
CURRENT ASSETS
Trade and other receivables 4,539 4,823
Cash and cash equivalents 687 1,054
5,226 5,877
TOTAL ASSETS 10,807 11,329
CURRENT LIABILITIES
Borrowings (13) (219)
Trade and other payables (2,391) (2,380)
Current tax payable (133) (361)
(2,537) (2,960)
NON-CURRENT LIABILITIES
Borrowings (838) (1,000)
Deferred tax liabilities (292) (309)
(1,130) (1,309)
TOTAL LIABILITIES (3,667) (4,269)
NET ASSETS 7,140 7,060
SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY
Share capital 106 106
Share premium 2,649 2,649
Merger reserve 1,493 1,493
Translation reserve (24) -
Capital redemption reserve 18 18
Share based payment reserve - 187
Retained earnings 4,134 3,838
Own shares (1,242) (1,242)
TOTAL SHAREHOLDERS' EQUITY 7,134 7,049
MINORITY INTEREST IN EQUITY 6 11
TOTAL EQUITY 7,140 7,060
DRIVER GROUP PLC
CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2009
Year ended Year ended
30 September 2009 30 September 2008
£000 £000
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES
Profit before taxation
- before share-based payments 1,111 2,077
- share-based payments (59) (97)
1,052 1,980
Adjustments for:
Depreciation 216 170
Exchange adjustments - (65)
Finance income (13) (14)
Finance expense 30 62
Equity settled share-based payment 59 97
expense
_________ _________
OPERATING CASH FLOW BEFORE CHANGES IN
WORKING CAPITAL AND PROVISIONS 1,344 2,230
_________ _________
Decrease / (increase) in trade and 260 (875)
other receivables
Increase in trade and other payables 11 602
_________ _________
CASH GENERATED FROM OPERATIONS 1,615 1,957
Taxation paid (527) (563)
_________ _________
NET CASH INFLOW FROM OPERATING 1,088 1,394
ACTIVITIES
_________ _________
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Finance income received 13 14
Acquisition of subsidiary net of cash - (1,003)
acquired
Acquisition of property, plant and (330) (111)
equipment
_________ _________
NET CASH OUTFLOW FROM INVESTING (317) (1,100)
ACTIVITIES
_________ _________
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Finance expense paid (30) (62)
Borrowings (368) 590
Payment of equity dividends (740) (688)
_________ _________
NET CASH OUTFLOW FROM FINANCING (1,138) (160)
ACTIVITIES
_________ _________
Net (decrease) / increase in cash and (367) 134
cash equivalents
Effect of foreign exchange on cash - 65
and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents at start of 1,054 855
period
_________ _________
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS AT END OF 687 1,054
PERIOD
_________ _________
DRIVER GROUP PLC
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY
FOR THE YEAR ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2009
Sharecapital Sharepremium Mergerreserve Otherreserves( Retainedearnings Ownshares Total Minority interest TotalEquity
1)
£000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000
OPENINGBALANCE AT 01 OCTOBER 99 2,649 - 112 3,086 (1,242) 4,704 16 4,720
2007
Deferred tax credit on - - - - 26 - 26 - 26
property revaluation
NET INCOME RECOGNISED DIRECTLY - - - - 26 - 26 - 26
IN EQUITY
Profit for the year - - - - 1,398 - 1,398 11 1,409
TOTAL RECOGNISED INCOME AND - - - - 1,424 - 1,424 11 1,435
EXPENSE
Issue of new shares 7 - 1,493 - - - 1,500 - 1,500
Dividends - - - - (672) - (672) (16) (688)
Share based payment - - - 93 - - 93 - 93
CLOSING BALANCE AT 30 106 2,649 1,493 205 3,838 (1,242) 7,049 11 7,060
SEPTEMBER 2008
Deferred tax credit on - - - - 9 - 9 - 9
property revaluation
Exchange adjustment - - - (24) - - (24) - (24)
NET INCOME RECOGNISED DIRECTLY - - - (24) 9 - (15) - (15)
IN EQUITY
Profit for the year - - - - 781 - 781 (5) 776
TOTAL RECOGNISED INCOME AND - - - (24) 790 - 766 (5) 761
EXPENSE
Dividends - - - - (740) - (740) - (740)
Share based payment - - - - 59 - 59 - 59
Transfer of reserves(2) - - - (187) 187 - - - -
BALANCE AT 30
SEPTEMBER 2009 106 2,649 1,493 (6) 4,134 (1,242) 7,134 6 7,140
(1) 'Other reserves' combines the translation reserve, capital redemption reserve and share based payment reserve.
(2) The opening balance on the share based payment reserve has been credited to retained earnings.
NOTES
1 The financial information set out in these Preliminary Results does
not constitute the Company's statutory accounts for the year ended 30
September 2009 or the year ended 30 September 2008 but is derived from
those accounts.
Statutory accounts for the year ended 30 September 2008 have been
delivered to the Registrar of Companies, and those for the year ended
30 September 2009 will be delivered following the Company's Annual
General Meeting. BDO LLP have reported on the 2009 and 2008 accounts.
Their reports were unqualified, did not include references to any
matters to which the auditors drew attention by way of emphasis
without qualifying their report, and did not contain statements under
section 498(2) or 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006 or section 237(2)
or (3) of the Companies Act 1985.
2 Earnings per share
Adjusted earnings per share before the charge for share-based payments
is 3.4p (2008: 6.3p)
The calculation of earnings per share before share-based payments is
based on earnings of £840,000 (2008: £1,520,000). Earnings after
deducting these charges are £781,000 (2008: £1,398,000). The basic and
diluted weighted average number of shares in issue for the period were
24,678,771 and 24,678,771 respectively (2008: 23,992,712 and
23,995,988 respectively).
3 Segmental analysis
The table below sets out revenue and profit by business segment:
For management purposes, the Group is organised into three operating
divisions: Driver Consult UK, Driver Consult Middle East and
Commercial Management Consultants ("CMC"). These divisions are the
basis on which the Group is structured and managed, based on its
geographical structure and principal services provided.
Year ended 30 September 2009 Continuing Operations
Driver Consult
Driver Consult UK Middle East
£000 £000
CMC Eliminations Unallocated Consolidated
£000 £000 £000 £000
Total external revenue 10,588 5,596 4,355 - - 20,539
Total inter-segment revenue 229 155 5 (389) - -
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Total revenue 10,817 5,751 4,360 (389) - 20,539
Segmental profit 1,453 974 423 - - 2,850
Unallocated corporate expenses
- - - - (1,722) (1,722)
Share option expense - - - - (59) (59)
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Operating profit 1,453 974 423 - (1,781) 1,069
Finance income - - - - 13 13
Finance expense - - - - (30) (30)
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Profit before taxation 1,453 974 423 - (1,798) 1,052
Taxation - - - - (276) (276)
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Profit for the year 1,453 974 423 - (2,074) 776
Inter-segment sales are charged at prevailing market rates.
(1) Unallocated costs represent Directors' remuneration, administration staff, corporate head office costs and expenses associated with AIM.
Revenue from one of the customers of the Driver Consult Middle East segment exceeds 10% of the Group's total revenue with revenue of £2.1m.
Year ended 30 September 2008 Continuing Operations
Driver Consult UK Driver Consult
£000 Middle East
£000
CMC Eliminations Unallocated Consolidated
£000 £000 £000 £000
Total external revenue 12,628 3,096 2,425 - - 18,149
Total inter-segment revenue 305 12 99 (416) - -
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Total revenue 12,933 3,108 2,524 (416) - 18,149
Segmental profit 2,984 537 354 - - 3,875
Unallocated corporate expenses
- - - - (1,750) (1,750)
Share option expense - - - - (97) (97)
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Operating profit 2,984 537 354 - (1,847) 2,028
Finance income - - - - 14 14
Finance expense - - - - (62) (62)
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Profit before taxation 2,984 537 354 - (1,895) 1,980
Taxation - - - - (571) (571)
_________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________
Profit for the year 2,984 537 354 - (2,466) 1,409
Revenue from one of the customers of the Driver Consult UK segment exceeds 10% of the Group's total revenue in 2008 with revenue of £2.1m.
4 GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION
The Group's operations are located in the UK and the Middle East.
The following table provides an analysis of the Group's revenue by geography based upon location of the
Group's operations:
Year ended Year ended
30 September 30 September 2008
2009 £000
£000
UK 14,943 15,053
Middle East 5,596 3,096
_________ _________
20,539 18,149
5 Copies of the annual report and financial statements
The Annual Report and Financial Statements will be sent to
shareholders in due course. Further copies will be available to the
public, free of charge at the Company's registered office, Driver
House, 4 St Crispin Way, Rossendale, Lancashire, BB4 4PW and on the
Company's website, www.drivergroupplc.com.
The Annual General Meeting will be held at IoD Hub, 1st Floor, Peter
House, Oxford Street, Manchester, M1 5AN on Wednesday 24 February 2010
commencing at 3.00pm.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
FR DVLFFBFFXBBK
More |
||
| Date/Time | Subject | Author | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 08-07-09 | ||||
|
| ||||
|
| ||||
| 22-06-06 | ||||
|
| ||||
|
| ||||
|
Wow - 95p a share would be VERY nice ;-) Thanks AFX !!
|
||||
| 16-01-06 |
BUY
Mena Report.
|
|||
|
| ||||
|
| ||||
|
"this project should make a significant contribution to securing Driver Group’s forecast profit for its operations in the United Arab Emirates for the financial year to 30 September 2006."
Driver Group signs major Abu Dhabi agreement in connection with US$14.7 billion property development Posted: 15-01-2006 , 07:12 GMT Driver Group, which provides specialist commercial, project planning and dispute resolution services to the construction industry, has announced that it had concluded a significant agreement in Abu Dhabi with an international Engineering Consultancy. Under the terms of the agreement, Driver Group will be providing commercial and project planning services in connection with a US$14.7 billion property development in Abu Dhabi. The contract is for an initial three years and will support a minimum of six consultants, potentially increasing to 15 consultants over the term of the agreement. With the minimum resource level of six consultants, this project should make a significant contribution to securing Driver Group’s forecast profit for its operations in the United Arab Emirates for the financial year to 30 September 2006. The mixed use property development includes signature commercial buildings, retail, leisure, health and community facilities. At this stage, Driver Group is unable to name the project or client as the agreement contains express provisions for confidentiality. Steve Driver, Chief Executive Officer of Driver Group, commented, “I am delighted to announce this contract. It is a substantial win for Driver Group and represents a material step forward for our business in the United Arab Emirates. We opened an office in the region last year and have surpassed our own expectations in the progress we have made in establishing ourselves in this marketplace. This significant agreement reflects the high quality reputation we have established in the UK where our clients include six out of the ten largest UK contractors.” |
||||
| 13-01-06 |
BUY
LOL.
|
|||
|
| ||||
|
| ||||
|
LOL....
A goldmine staring people straight in the face, and it is still only a penny or two above the placing price... Even Directors have been buying higher than this, and the increase in turnover/profit i think has gone unoticed. The contract win in the UAE is massive. The increased revenue this will generate will eventually be reflected in the SP. Financial Results The performance of the Group has exceeded our expectations and has delivered an operating profit from continuing operations before exceptional items of £1.65 million and earnings per share before exceptional items of 7.4p. These represent increases respectively of 27% and 48% on the same period last year. Turnover on continuing operations rose by 6% to £8.1m from £7.6m last year. The exceptional items relate principally to the Group's historical practice as a private company of paying surplus profits as bonuses. As a result, profit on ordinary activities after exceptional items and before taxation was approximately break-even, as anticipated in the Admission Document. Following admission to AIM, surplus profit bonuses will not be paid and the Directors have committed to a progressive dividend policy consistent with maintaining an appropriate level of dividend cover. Trading Overview During the year, the Group continued to focus on working with larger construction contractors. The Group has carried out work for six out of the 10 largest construction companies in the UK by turnover according to statistics published in the Building Magazine in 2004. Our appointments related to major civil and heavy engineering projects, multi-storey buildings and Private Finance Initiative/Design Build and Operate assignments. I am pleased to record that over 80% of Driver Group's turnover during the year was derived from repeat business and/or continuing projects, testimony to the high quality of service we deliver to our clients. A major initiative during the year was the opening of our first offices in the United Arab Emirates. Supporting one of the most active construction sectors in the world, the region offers exciting growth opportunities and today, we are delighted to announce that we have signed a significant agreement in Abu Dhabi with an international Engineering Consultancy to provide commercial and project planning services on one of the largest construction projects in the world. The contract is for an initial three years and will support a minimum of six consultants, potentially increasing to fifteen consultants over the term of the agreement. With the minimum resource level of six consultants, this project should make a significant contribution to securing Driver Group's forecast profitfor its operations in the United Arab Emirates for the financial year to 30 September 2006. This contract and other opportunities we have identified make the UAE an important area for growth for us in 2006. In September 2005, the Group launched Adjudication Toolkit in which it has a 51% interest. The toolkit is an online programme aimed at enabling users to run minor or less complex disputes (where it would not be cost effective to engage external solicitors or consultants) to adjudication. The product is still in the early stage of marketing. Prospects The Group's profile has increased significantly following its admission to AIM in October 2005. Our enhanced profile is already providing benefits in attracting additional clients and staff. The prospects for growth in the UK and European divisions are good and, in the UAE, there are significant opportunities emerging, not least those associated with today's major contract announcement. The Directors believe that we are embarking upon an exciting period in the Driver Group's development and view the financial year ending 30 September 2006 with confidence. Michael Davis Chairman |
||||
The contents of the postings summarised here represents the opinions of the authors and not of Interactive Investor Trading Limited.
They have not been approved or issued by Interactive Investor Trading Limited.
They have not been approved or issued by Interactive Investor Trading Limited.
Discussion Board Terms & Conditions FSA Market Abuse Fact Sheet
More...