Consulting and business services group, Mouchel, has reported a strong increase in revenue and profit and improved operating margins in the period to 31 January 2009.
Mouchel's Chief Executive, Richard Cuthbert, reported a a rise in pre-tax profit of 25 per cent - £16.3 million for the six months to 31 January, up from £9.3 million a year earlier. The company saw its revenue grow by 19 per cent – up from £308.1 million to £365.6 million. Mouchel has also successfully renegotiated its banking debt facilities totalling £190 million for the next three years. Mouchel has an order book of £2.0 billion and a bidding pipeline of £1.9 billion.
The company said that while overall, general economic conditions remain challenging, Mouchel's continuing focus on the UK public sector and on the provision of essential services and the management of vital infrastructure means that demand for its services remains generally buoyant. The company said that it is increasingly benefiting from the combined capability of its two most recent acquisitions, HBS and Hedra, particularly in pursuing new outsourcing deals and assignments which help transform services for existing clients.
Overall, the market place for Mouchel's Regulated Industries business remains largely buoyant. Despite the current economic conditions, the indications are still that in the Group's Water business there will be an increase in expenditure under AMP5 relative to earlier regulatory periods. Mouchel works with every water and sewage utility in the UK, as well as the Department of the Environment & Heritage Services in the Republic of Ireland. The company currently delivers more than 40 term framework commissions in the sector.
During the period, Mouchel won and successfully commenced the leakage detection contract for all eight zones in Thames Water's North East and North West areas. The contract started in September 2008 and runs to 2010, with the possibility of a five-year extension. Thames Water leakage detection award is Mouchel's largest water-related operational services win. Mouchel's Management Consulting is currently conducting a business review of operational and service improvement opportunities for Thames Water.
Richard Cuthbert, Chief Executive, commented:
"We have seen another period of strong performance. Our business model continues to be focused on the UK public sector and on the provision of essential services and the maintenance of vital infrastructure. This is proving to be particularly resilient in the current environment and we have again increased revenues and improved margins.
We continue to face challenges in the Middle East and in Rail and we are currently taking the necessary steps to ensure that we have the right cost base going forward in order to meet our aspirations for future growth. However, both our contract order book and bidding pipeline remain strong and we have recently renewed and extended our banking facilities, as a result of which we remain confident about our long-term prospects."
The company also announced the appointment of new chairman Bo Lerenius to succeed Richard Benton with effect from 1 May.
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