The period also saw a further drop of 878 in staff numbers - down from 10,327 in September last year to 9,449. The firm said that headcount has been stabilising in the UK during the first six months, with revenue and average headcount down around 8% on the same period last year. According to the company’s financial statement, the slight reduction in the UK headcount since 31 March 2011 primarily reflects a number of staff who were already on notice of redundancy at the year end.
The Group recently announced the sale of its UK asset management business for a cash consideration of £5m payable on completion, together with a deferred conditional amount of £0.5m. The transaction is expected to complete at the end of November.
The consultation process the Group started back in June with employees belonging to the UK defined benefit pension plan in relation to a proposal to remove the link between employees’ accrued pension and future increases in salary is now complete. Atkins has decided to remove the link to final salary, effective 1 February 2012 – a move which is expected to affect approximately 1,400 employees.
Improved global performance
Globally Atkins employs some 17,700 people across the UK, North America, Middle East, Asia Pacific and Europe.
Performance was better at a global level with Atkins’ global revenue for the period up to £842.9 m from £664.2m in the same period last year and pre-tax profits up 14.2% to £44.2 m. Turnover increased by 27% compared with the same period last year, on average staff numbers up 13%, largely due to the Group’s North American acquisition.
The year on year growth in overseas and energy businesses means that they now represent more than 50% of the Group’s revenue.
“Water is a very significant market”
The company has flagged up water as a very significant market where Atkins’ skills both in the UK and North America can be “marshalled and augmented” to address this market across the world. Acquisitions also remain a possibility for Atkins to supplement organic growth as the firm looks to balance its client and sector mix. Atkins said it was seeing volumes improving on the framework contracts in place with a number of the UK water companies, as their asset management investment programmes progress.
UK market remains challenging
The financial statement said:
“As anticipated, the UK market remains challenging. The year on year revenue decrease reflects staffing reductions, the majority of which were completed by the end of the last financial year. Since 31 March 2011, we have seen underlying headcount stabilising, with the slight reduction in the six month period primarily reflecting those staff in our highways and transportation business already on notice of redundancy at the end of the last financial year.”
“The overall outlook for the UK remains stable, with the business working in a number of well-funded markets. However, we see a challenging second half of the year for our rail business, due to the delays in signalling projects coming to the market. We have a solid, diversified platform to help navigate short term market challenges, and a breadth of expertise that will help us exploit opportunities when growth returns.”