Kier Group PLC Trading Update (0702A)
18 January 2024 - 6:00PM
UK Regulatory
TIDMKIE
RNS Number : 0702A
Kier Group PLC
18 January 2024
18 January 2024
Kier Group plc
Trading Update
Kier Group plc ("Kier" or the "Group"), a leading infrastructure
services, construction and property group issues a trading update
for the six months ended 31 December 2023 ("the period" or "first
half"). The Group will publish its results for the six months ended
31 December 2023 ("half year results") on 7 March 2024.
Trading
Consistent with the update in November 2023, the first half of
the current financial year continued to trade above the prior
period and was in line with the Board's expectations. This was
driven by strong volume growth, particularly in Construction.
Similar to last year, the Group's performance is expected to be
second-half weighted.
Business integration
On 4 September 2023, Kier acquired substantially all of the rail
assets of Buckingham Group Contracting Limited from administration.
The acquisition has been successfully integrated into the Group's
Transportation business.
Order book
The order book as at 31 December 2023 was c.GBP10.7bn, a c.6%
increase on the year-end position (30 June 2023: GBP10.1bn) and the
prior year comparative (31 December 2022: GBP10.1bn). The Group has
secured revenue of 92% for FY24, providing a high degree of
visibility. Long-term framework positions are excluded from the
order book and represent an additional opportunity. Bidding
discipline and risk management embedded across the business
continue to drive the high quality and profitable order book.
Recent awards include:
-- Infrastructure Services:
o Natural Resources, Nuclear & Networks: Awarded a c.GBP30m
contract with Evolve to deliver a pipeline in Northern Ireland
under their Gas to the West project
-- Construction:
o Awarded four education projects worth a total of c. GBP150m, a
healthcare project worth c.GBP60m and the contract to deliver a new
houseblock for the Ministry of Justice at HMP Elmley worth over
GBP100m.
Net cash / debt
Kier's focus on operational delivery and cash management
alongside the cash generation from the strong volume growth has
successfully resulted in the Group continuing to deleverage
materially with average month-end net debt of c.GBP(140)m (HY23:
GBP(243)m) showing a significant improvement of c.GBP100m.
Kier is expected to report a modest net cash position at 31
December 2023 (HY23: GBP(131)m).
Dividend
The continued resilience in trading, order book security and
ongoing strengthening of the balance sheet provides the Board with
confidence to resume dividend payments in the current financial
year, commencing with an interim dividend to be announced alongside
the half year results.
Andrew Davies, Chief Executive of Kier, commented:
"Kier has made a good start to the year, in line with our
expectations. I am particularly pleased with the progress we are
making on reducing debt, which has resulted in the Group materially
deleveraging its balance sheet in the first half. We have achieved
this through disciplined growth as well as our unstinting focus on
operational excellence, cash management and cash generation. Kier
remains well positioned to continue benefiting from UK Government
infrastructure spending commitments and this gives the Board every
confidence in delivering our medium-term value creation plan."
- ENDS -
For further information, please contact:
+44 (0)7933 388
Investor Relations 746
+44 (0)1767 355
Kier Press Office 096
+44 (0)203 727
Richard Mountain, FTI Consulting 1340
About Kier Group plc
Kier is a leading UK infrastructure services, construction and
property group. We provide specialist design and build capabilities
and the knowledge, skills and intellectual capital of our people to
ensure we are able to project manage and integrate all aspects of a
project.
This announcement does not constitute an offer of securities by
Kier Group plc (the "Company"). Nothing in this announcement is
intended to be, or intended to be construed as, a profit forecast
or a guide as to the performance, financial or otherwise, of the
Company or any of its subsidiaries (together, the "Group") whether
in the current or any future financial year. This announcement may
include statements that are, or may be deemed to be,
"forward-looking statements". By their nature, forward-looking
statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to
events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the
future and may be beyond the Company's or the Group's ability to
control or predict. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees
of future performance. You are advised to read the section headed
"Principal risks and uncertainties" in the Company's Annual Report
and Accounts for the year ended 30 June 2023 for a further
discussion of the factors that could affect the Company's or the
Group's future performance and the industry in which it operates.
Other than in accordance with its legal or regulatory obligations,
the Company does not accept any obligation to update or revise
publicly any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms
and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information
contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an
anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services.
For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange
use the personal data you provide us, please see our Privacy
Policy.
END
TSTGPUPCGUPCGRM
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 18, 2024 02:00 ET (07:00 GMT)
Kier (LSE:KIE)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Kier (LSE:KIE)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024