TIDMBILB
RNS Number : 7126G
Bilby PLC
06 March 2015
Press Release 6 March 2015
Bilby Plc
(Bilby or the Company)
Admission to AIM and First Day of Dealings
Bilby Plc (AIM: BILB.L), a holding company providing a platform
for strategic acquisitions in the gas heating and general building
services industries, has today been admitted to trading on the AIM
market of the London Stock Exchange.
Bilby has acquired P&R Installation Company Limited
(P&R) through a share for share exchange and is the first
operating subsidiary of Bilby.
Highlights:
-- The Company has raised GBP2.5m through a placing of new
ordinary shares at 58p per share, valuing Bilby at GBP17.0m
-- Phil Copolo, founder and Executive Deputy Chairman retains
a 52% interest in the Company following a placing of founder
shares to raise an additional GBP1.6m
-- P&R has long standing customer relationships maintained
through quality of service and management expertise. These
include the Guinness Partnership, London & Quadrant, Gallions
and the Royal Borough of Greenwich
-- Bilby intends to pursue further acquisitions of other building
services businesses similar to P&R across operating across
London and South East England
-- Strong cash generation enabling the Directors to confirm
that Bilby will pay a maiden final dividend in respect
to the financial period ending 31 March 2015.
Phil Copolo, Founder and Executive Deputy Chairman of Bilby,
said:
"Bilby's funding and Admission to AIM provide the Company with a
fantastic platform to take advantage of the significant market
opportunity in the London and the South East that is driven by
strict government regulations. I am delighted that we can now
accelerate the growth of Bilby through both our organic and buy and
build strategies. We welcome our new shareholders and look forward
to updating them as Bilby positions itself to access larger
building service contracts whilst maintaining our disciplined focus
on our target markets, services and margins."
For further information, please contact:
Bilby Plc
Darren Dunnett, Managing Director
David Ellingham, Finance Director +44 (0)20 8300 0300
Charles Stanley Securities
Nominated Adviser and Broker
Russell Cook
James Greenwood +44 (0)20 7149 6000
Hudson Sandler
Charlie Jack
Alex Brennan
Emily Dillon +44 (o)20 7796 4133
Further information can be found at www.bilbyplc.com
Business Overview
Bilby has been established as a holding company to provide a
platform for strategic acquisitions in the gas heating and general
building services industries. Bilby acquired the shares of P&R
on 2 March 2015 through a share for share exchange and P&R is
now a wholly owned operating subsidiary of Bilby.
Headquartered in Sidcup, Kent, P&R employs approximately 80
staff and is an established and award winning provider of gas
heating appliance installation and maintenance services to
residential and commercial properties. It has expanded its
activities in recent years to incorporate a broader range of
domestic and commercial plumbing, electrical and general building
repair works.
P&R provides services predominately to local authorities and
housing associations across London and South East England. The
experienced management team places emphasis on the provision of a
high level of service through which P&R has developed long
standing relationships with its customers who include the Guinness
Partnership, London & Quadrant, Gallions and the Royal Borough
of Greenwich.
Operational and financial track record driven by a focused
approach:
The Directors believe that, alongside a strong and experienced
management structure, Bilby's geographic focus and disciplined
approach to tendering for new contract work has helped P&R to
achieve above average operating margins compared to its publicly
quoted peer group.
An award winning reputation with ongoing and long established
customer relationships arising from P&R's high quality service
and management expertise;
A substantial level of recurring revenue through multiple long
term and rolling contracts with local authorities and housing
associations;
An established financial record and yielding:
-- For the year ended 31 January 2014 P&R generated revenue
of GBP9.73m and in the nine months ended 31 October 2014
P&R reported revenues of GBP8.67m;
-- 2012 - 2014 revenue CAGR of 13.4 per cent;
-- Adjusted operating profit margin of 14.2 per cent. for
the 9 months ended 31 October 2014;
-- Strong cash generation enabling the Directors to confirm
that Bilby will pay a maiden final dividend in respect
to the financial period ending 31 March 2015.
Growth opportunities - Strong market fundamentals and a 'Buy and
Build' strategy
The Directors anticipate that continued growth will be
underpinned by expanding opportunities in a growing market. The gas
heating and general building services industries are benefiting
from strong market fundamentals driven by government standards and
legislation, such as the Decent Homes Standard, the Right to Repair
Scheme and applicable gas safety regulations. Such government
policies and initiatives place compulsory obligations leading to
potential legal liability requiring local authority and housing
associations to meet a minimum standard in all social housing.
These obligations fall on housing bodies regardless of budgetary
pressures and demands they face in other areas.
There are currently over 1.25 million local authority and
housing association properties across London and South East
England. For the year ended 31 March 2014 these social housing
providers spent over GBP2.5 billion on the repair, maintenance and
supervision of their housing stock.
In addition to its clear organic growth strategy, the Directors
believe that there are opportunities to expand the Group's
operations through further acquisitions of businesses operating in
markets similar to P&R. Through consolidation by way of a
'Buy-and-Build' strategy the Directors believe that they will
deliver further and accelerated growth. In particular, many of the
larger and potentially significantly profitable social housing
maintenance contracts are subject to pre-qualifying conditions
which are often based on a minimum level of revenue set above the
Group's current level of turnover. As such P&R has been unable
to tender for such contracts but with consolidation, the Directors
believe that an enlarged group will be able to tender for such
contracts.
Directors
Phil Copolo- Executive Deputy Chairman
Mr Copolo has grown and led the business since 1977. Takes an
active role in the management of P&R and is a qualified gas
engineer by trade. Has over 40 years' experience managing
maintenance and building services and is respected throughout the
industry. His responsibilities include the implementation of the
Buy and Build strategy.
Darren Dunnett- Managing Director
Mr Dunnett has been working at P&R for 21 years and oversees
the financial, personnel, procurement and IT functions. He is
dedicated to the continued growth of the Group both in terms of
geographical coverage and increasing the quality of service
provided to both corporate and residential clients.
David Ellingham - Finance Director
Mr Ellingham is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of
Certified Accountants, he is responsible for identifying
complementary targets for the Buy and Build strategy and brings a
wealth of experience in merger and acquisitions. He has prior board
experience acting as executive director of various quoted
companies.
Sangita Shah - Non-Executive Chairman
Mrs Shah has both executive and non-executive board experience.
She is a Board advisor to Global Reach Technology, a regular
consultant to HM Cabinet Office and for a number of blue chip
organisations such as HSBC, Rathbones and MGM Advantage. She is a
Director at Swindon Town Football Company Limited.
David Johnson - Non-Executive Director
Mr Johnson has had a long and successful career in the
investment sector with a number of leading City investment houses
including Sun Life, Henderson Crosthwaite, Investec and Panmure
Gordon. He joined Chelverton in 2014 where he has responsibility
for the group's private equity investments.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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