TIDMMGNS
RNS Number : 2326W
Morgan Sindall Group PLC
22 April 2021
22 April 2021
Morgan Sindall Group plc
This announcement contains information that qualified, or may
have qualified, as inside information for the purposes of Article
17 of the Market Abuse Regulations (EU) 596/2014 (MAR). The person
responsible for making this announcement is Steve Crummett, Finance
Director
Trading Update
Morgan Sindall Group plc ('the Group'), the construction and
regeneration group, today announces an update on trading and the
outlook for the 2021 financial year.
Group performance and 2021 outlook
At the time of the 2020 full year results in February 2021, the
Board reported that it was well set for strong growth in 2021.
Since then, all divisions have made further positive operational
and strategic progress in their markets and momentum across the
Group has continued to increase.
On the basis of the performance to date, the Group's operational
delivery capabilities and the current visibility of future workload
for delivery in the remainder of the year, the Group is now on
track to deliver a full year performance which is significantly
ahead of its previous expectations.
In addition, the Group's strong cash position has also further
improved and it is now expected that the average daily net cash for
the full year will be in excess of GBP180m.
Trading by division
In Construction & Infrastructure, Infrastructure is
continuing to trade strongly, with operational delivery and work
mix driving further margin growth. Construction has had a strong
start to the year with its secured order book at the end of March
up 10% from the year end position and its ongoing focus on contract
selectivity and risk management provides the basis for continued
further improvement through the year.
Fit Out has had a very strong trading period and its secured
order book at the end of March was 18% higher than at the year end.
In addition, it has in excess of GBP400m of work currently at
preferred bidder stage. Taken together, Fit Out is expected to
deliver a result for the year which is materially ahead of its
medium-term target(1) .
Volume in Property Services has held up well despite lower than
expected planned maintenance activity, with its margin expected to
improve as the year progresses.
Partnership Housing has continued to see high levels of market
demand, which together with ongoing improvements in operational
delivery, is driving good margin and profit growth.
Progress with Urban Regeneration's developments and schemes has
been as expected.
(1) Fit Out's medium-term target is annual operating profit at
or around cGBP35m
Group secured workload
The total secured workload for the Group as at 31 March 2021 was
GBP8.1bn, up 8% from the corresponding prior year position (down 2%
from the 2020 full year position).
This comprised the construction secured order book of GBP4.0bn,
up 15% from the prior year (up 2% from the full year) and the
regeneration secured order book of GBP4.1bn, which was up 1% from
the prior year (down 5% from the full year).
In addition, the Group has been selected by West Sussex County
Council as its partner for a property joint venture. The 30-year
joint venture will see Partnership Housing manage the development
of surplus Council land into new homes and commercial premises
across the County on behalf of the JV, with an initial immediate
pipeline of 10 sites already identified. No value is yet attributed
to this JV in the stated secured workload, in line with the Group's
normal recognition policy.
Balance sheet and net cash
The average daily net cash from 1 January to 20 April was
GBP288m (of which GBP68m was held in jointly controlled operations
or held for future payment to designated suppliers). This
represented an increase of GBP154m over the average for same period
last year.
Based upon this and current forecasts to the year end, the
average daily net cash for the full year is now expected to be in
excess of GBP180m (FY 2020: GBP181m), significantly ahead of
previous guidance.
John Morgan, Chief Executive, said:
"Since the start of the year, the positive momentum across the
Group has continued to accelerate and with the Group geared towards
demand for affordable housing, urban regeneration and
infrastructure and construction investment, I am excited by the
significant opportunities ahead.
Our high-quality secured workload and our operational delivery
capabilities give us great confidence for the rest of the year and
as such, we expect to deliver a full year performance significantly
ahead of our previous expectations."
ENDS
ENQUIRIES:
Morgan Sindall Group plc Tel: 020 7307 9200
John Morgan, Chief Executive
Steve Crummett, Finance Director
Instinctif Partners Tel: 020 7457 2020
Matthew Smallwood
Rosie Driscoll
Morgan Sindall Group
Morgan Sindall Group plc is a leading UK construction and
regeneration group with revenue of cGBP3bn, employing around 6,600
employees and operating in the public, regulated and private
sectors. It operates through five divisions of Construction &
Infrastructure, Fit Out, Property Services, Partnership Housing and
Urban Regeneration.
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
TSTDKDBNCBKDDQB
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 22, 2021 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Morgan Sindall (LSE:MGNS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Morgan Sindall (LSE:MGNS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024