Final Results

AMCO Corporation PLC 06 March 2007 AMCO CORPORATION PLC ('AMCO' OR 'THE GROUP') 6th March 2007 PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT OF RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2006 CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT Following the death of Stuart Gordon, chairman of the Group, on Sunday 4 March 2007, I have agreed to delay my planned retirement for the time being and will act as interim Chairman until I am replaced by Mr Peter Hems who joins the Company on 1 April 2007. Results before taxation I am pleased to report substantially improved results for 2006. The profit before taxation for 2006 was £8.9 million compared with £7.0 million in 2005. This was on total turnover of £136 million as compared with £126 million for 2005. Structural steel Structural steel activities had an extremely good year and returned operating profits of £3,997,000. Property Property development and investment returned operating profits of £3,352,000. Specialist engineering Specialist engineering operating profits of £1,569,000. Manufacturing There were operating profits of £504,000. Earnings per share Earnings per share were 53.0 pence for 2006 compared with 42.7 pence for 2005. Dividend I am delighted to announce a recommended final dividend for 2006 of 6 pence per share payable on 2nd July 2007 to shareholders of record on 8th June 2007. This will increase the total dividend paid and proposed in respect of 2006 to 13 pence, an 18% increase over the 11 pence paid in respect of 2005. Liquidity and capital resources The Group had net debt at 31st December 2006 of £4.8 million as compared with a net funds in hand position at 31st December 2005 of £4.1 million. Shareholders funds increased from £10,043,000 at 1st January 2006 to £17,062,000 at 31st December 2006. Pension Schemes The net deficits on the Group's final salary pension schemes reduced by £4.0 million to £8.6 million at 31st December 2006. We intend to make additional contributions, in excess of normal contributions, to the schemes of £1.4 million in 2007. Prospects for 2007 Following the termination of possible offer discussions announced earlier in the year the Board is now focused on driving the continuing development of the Group and I am pleased to report that prospects for 2007 are good. Structural steel activities continue to be buoyant and another good year is expected in 2007. Due to timings associated with present developments in progress, property development results in 2007 are likely to be less profitable than in 2006. We anticipate satisfactory profits from specialist engineering activities in 2007. Plastics manufacturing is expected to have an acceptable year in 2007. Dosco continues to operate in a very difficult market but we anticipate reasonable profits in 2007. Management and workforce I should like to thank all directors and employees for their efforts and enthusiasm in 2006 which have contributed to a significant extent to the very pleasing outcome to the year. M.R. Speakman Interim Chairman 6th March 2007 OPERATIONAL REVIEW Overview The Group's focus on the development of its structural steel, property development, specialist engineering and manufacturing businesses continues. The results in 2006 were a further improvement on the figures registered in 2005. Provided that the structural steel market remains relatively buoyant, the completion of property development projects currently in hand and the progressive growth of our specialist engineering activities are maintained then the Group should achieve a further satisfactory performance in 2007. 2006 was a year of high capital investment within the Group as we consolidated our position in the niche markets that we service. There was further investment in modernising the steel facilities, particularly in our Yate factory and additional drill rigs were acquired to support and expand our overseas exploration drilling operation in Guinea. We will continue to make investments throughout the Group to expand the scope of the services and products we offer and improve the efficiency and profitability of our businesses. Health and Safety Health and Safety remains at the core of the Group's operations and we continue to maintain our year on year improvement in Health and Safety performance. Billington Structures in particular has reinvigorated its system of monitoring and seeking improvements in Health and Safety by introducing a tiered structure of working groups, which make use of the experience and ideas of those most closely involved and at risk, both in its factories and on sites. During 2007 the Group will maintain its focus on the minimisation of Health and Safety risk through the identification and elimination of workplace hazards and the implementation of improvements in the areas of behavioural safety, occupational road risk and the management of sub contractor performance. Management Systems 2006 saw further progress made in relation to the review and development of management systems within the Group. Both Amalgamated Construction and Billington Structures have achieved continued success with the further development of their 'Workspace' and 'BILLMISS' electronic management information systems. The project to develop a process based electronic management system for Dosco Overseas Engineering is nearing completion and the system is programmed to go live in February 2007. Companies within the Group have all successfully maintained ISO 9000 (Quality) and ISO 14000 (Environmental) certification of their management systems during 2006. Billington Structures has achieved certification to the Occupational Health Standard OHSAS 18001 and Amalgamated Construction will be seeking certification to OHSAS 18001 during 2007. Training and Development Substantial investment in employee training and development has been made in 2006 and increased levels of investment are envisaged during 2007. The increased manpower levels within Amalgamated Construction, following the award of the three Network Rail Minor Works Framework Contracts, has required specific attention throughout 2006 to ensure that new employees have received the training required to enable them to fully meet the company's operational requirements. The ongoing development of employee skills, knowledge and competence is seen as fundamental to the achievement of our longer term strategic objectives and as such will continue to be the focal point around which our training and development strategy is developed. However it is also clearly recognised that continued professional and career development are crucial in respect of longer term employee retention and opportunities for improvement will be sought in these areas during 2007. Both Amalgamated Construction and Billington Structures continue to actively support the construction industry's national initiative of achieving a fully qualified workforce. Billington Structures continued to build on its relationships with local schools and universities, which have helped it to maintain apprenticeship schemes in its factories and a graduate engineer scheme in its technical department. Environment We have continued to pursue our goal of continuous environmental improvement through the ongoing reduction of the environmental impact of our operations. Reductions in energy usage and waste have remained our main focus of attention. The Group continues to pride itself on the comprehensive measures implemented throughout the organisation for the control of our environmental impacts. Not only do these measures ensure our ongoing compliance with legislation but they also earn acknowledgement from our clients. The ongoing development and promotion of good environmental practice, underpinned by sound environmental awareness and employee training, is seen to be a key issue in continued business success. Billington Structures enthusiastically supports an initiative developed by its trade association, in turn encouraged by the Government, for a Sustainability Charter for the industry. There are three classes of membership and Billington Structures is one of only two companies in the industry to be awarded the highest, the Gold Standard. Structural Steel Billington Structures enjoyed a further record year for turnover and profit in 2006. It benefited from the generally favourable conditions in the construction industry, but also from its policy of developing long-term relationships with a number of major contractors and clients. Among the projects supplied with steelwork were a major town centre re-development at Bishops Stortford, the new grandstand at Doncaster race-course, a number of schools and hospitals, a new warehouse for Corus at Scunthorpe and a transport interchange in Barnsley. The company's safety solutions division, easi-edge, had a year of strong growth. There was expanding demand for its safety barrier system, as the industry increasingly saw the need to provide a more substantial method of protecting workers at height than is provided by the traditional scaffolding poles. It also benefited from its growing portfolio of new products, including a well-received system for guarding stairs and an innovative product to protect workers loading/ unloading trailers called 'Trailarrest'. It was a record year for investment. The growth of the easi-edge hire business needed supporting with considerable expenditure on additional barriers and the strong growth in structural steelwork encouraged the Group to make a substantial investment in modernising and increasing the capacity of its Yate factory. This facility, which at the start of the year, was only capable of producing half the output of the Wombwell factory, is now on occasion producing in excess of Wombwell. The main item of spend was a next-generation Ficep CNC saw/drill. Another major investment by the Group to support growth in the business was an extension to the main office-block at Wombwell. This was completed just prior to the end of the year. Hollybank Engineering is the Group's other structural steel business. It supplies the underground mining industry, in particular the UK coal industry. In consequence, its market has been declining over a number of years. A particular blow in 2006 was the closure of one of its principal customers, Tower Colliery. In spite of the difficult conditions in which it operates, it still managed to trade profitably in 2006. Conditions are currently even tougher and 2007 is likely to be very difficult for the company. Property Development Amco Developments enjoyed a record year for turnover and profit in 2006. The Arundel Street, Sheffield residential development of 68 apartments was successfully completed in December 2006 with over half of the units having already been sold or under offer. Planning for 50 apartments in phase one of the larger mixed use development at Summerfield Street, Sheffield was successfully achieved and work has commenced on site in January 2007. All 50 units in the phase have successfully been sold off plan. Phase two which comprises of 205 apartments, 20,000 sq.ft. of offices and some 5,000 sq.ft. of retail space is likely to commence on site in late 2008. A number of other exciting opportunities have been secured. These include a scheme for 129 apartments in Dewsbury with work expected to commence on site in the third quarter of 2007 and a scheme for 21 apartments in Bradford where work is anticipated to commence in the second quarter of 2007. Phase four of the successful Temple Point business park in Leeds currently being undertaken in a joint venture with Tolent has been completed and sold to an investor. Amco Developments continues to actively identify other development opportunities to build on what has been a highly successful 2006. Specialist Engineering Amalgamated Construction is the multi-disciplinary specialist engineering subsidiary of the Group, operating throughout the UK across the rail, civil, mechanical and electrical engineering sectors. It also provides exploration drilling services in West Africa. The business again had a successful year in 2006 reflecting the continued strong demand for its specialist engineering activities. The rail business achieved significant growth throughout the period and further consolidated its position in the rail market throughout the UK through the successful delivery of multi-disciplined civils, structures, building, maintenance and engineering projects for Network Rail, train operating companies and major rail contractors. In 2006 the company was awarded Minor Works framework contracts for three Network Rail Territories. This £20 million per annum contract is for a period of 3 years with an optional 2 year extension. The company specialises in tunnel and shaft refurbishment, bridge and structures replacement and refurbishment, trackside civils works, new build and refurbishment of stations, signal boxes and lineside structures, specialist mechanical and electrical refurbishment and the delivery of a wide range of minor works maintenance services. Projects undertaken in 2006 included major tunnel and shaft repairs, viaduct repairs, embankment stabilisations, earthworks and drainage schemes, the Monkwearmouth bridge refurbishment and the Wallingford Road bridge replacement in Goring. The engineering business provides a range of multi-disciplinary design, project management, turnkey contracting, installation, commissioning and maintenance services to the power, water, nuclear, utilities, ports, mining and manufacturing industries. Current and recent projects cover mechanical and electrical services, bulk materials handling installations, moving structures and fluid power engineering for a range of clients including Magnox, National Grid, E-on, SSE, British Energy, RWE Innogy, the Environment Agency, British Waterways, Network Rail, the Oil and Pipelines Agency and Local Authorities. Major projects undertaken in 2006 include Monkwearmouth rail bridge refurbishment, Exeter Canal swing bridge and bascule bridges refurbishment and Ardrishaig swing bridge refurbishment. The civil engineering business is focussed on civil and multi-discipline engineering contracts across the energy, water, utilities, transport and public sectors. It specialises in the project management and delivery of multi-discipline engineering projects, both traditional and design-construct, drawing on specialist skills and resources from around the company. It retains specialist skills, resources and plant relating to the construction, maintenance and refurbishment of below ground structures and engineering projects including tunnels and shafts. The company has been working with Dundee City Council throughout 2006 under an Early Contractor Involvement arrangement to assist in design development and advise on construction options, logistics, rail interfaces and programming for the Dock Street rail tunnel strengthening contract. The £6m contract works started at the beginning of 2007. The exploration drilling company is based in Guinea, West Africa. The business continued to expand its operations with the acquisition of four new drill rigs in 2006, two of which have been commissioned in early 2007. Manufacturing Dosco Overseas Engineering had a successful year in 2006 with turnover being some 24% higher than that achieved in 2005. The company continues to focus its activities and services away from its traditional core market, which centred on the UK mining industry, and whilst this market remains important, 2006 saw approximately 80% of the turnover generated overseas. During 2006 the company successfully sold further MK4 roadheaders into the Chinese coal mining market as well as completing machine orders for the Dominican Republic, Russia and the United States. In addition spares sales were generated in eleven different countries in addition to the UK. The company has now successfully supplied equipment into three of the top ten coal producers in China as well as two of the largest producers in Russia, the company's two key markets. Significant orders for 2007 have so far been received from China, Russia and the Middle East. The Chinese orders are from two different coal mining bureaus and are for two machines each. The Russian order is for major ancillary equipment to form the back-up system behind a Dosco roadheader and the Middle Eastern order is a major spares order to support previously supplied Dosco equipment. In addition to the mining sales currently secured the company also has two pipe conveyor orders, one for the UK and one for Poland. The success achieved to-date together with our strategy of focussing on key export markets and core products, namely roadheading and material handling equipment, provides a solid base for the company's continued structured and sustainable growth in worldwide markets. During 2006 Amco Plastics continued to focus on the expansion of its extrusion business with the development of new products to serve a wide cross-section of industry applications. To enable it to meet the demand created in the year two new extrusion lines were brought into service along with 6,500 sq.ft. of additional storage space. Amco Plastics increased sales of extruded product to the UK cable industry and became the sole supplier of tube to the UK paint roller industry. After some design difficulties the company successfully completed the supply of 10 kilometres of 2.5 metre diameter tunnel ventilation ducting to the high speed train link from Spain to France at Le Perthus and La Jonquera. FINANCIAL DIRECTOR'S REPORT Results Total turnover (including the increase in work in progress) in the year ended 31st December 2006 increased by 15.2% to £145.1m from £126.0m in the previous year. The Group reported a total operating profit for 2006 of £8.9m a 23.6% increase on the profit achieved in 2005 of £7.2m. Operating margins increased in the year from 5.7% to 6.1%. Taxation The tax charge of £2.8m in the year equates to an effective corporation tax rate of 30.8% on the Group's profits. Profit and dividends per share Earnings per share were 53.0p in 2006, which compares with earnings per share of 42.7p in 2005. During the year a final dividend of 11p per share was paid in respect of the 2005 results and an interim dividend of 7p per share paid in respect of the 2006 results. A final dividend of 6p per share is proposed in respect of the 2006 results which would result in total dividends in respect of 2006 of 13p, an increase of 18.2% over the comparative 2005 dividend. Capital expenditure The Group continued to invest in capital equipment with a further £6.9m (2005 - £3.3m) of capital expenditure in the year of which £1.9m (2005 - £1.8m) related to replacements in the Group's motor vehicle fleet. Of the balance of £5.0m, £2.4m was in respect of new equipment in the structural steel businesses, £1.5m on construction drilling equipment, £0.8m on an office extension with the rest invested in plant and equipment throughout the Group. The depreciation charge for the year was £2.9m which, together with sundry disposals, caused the total fixed assets in the Group to increase by £3.6m to £18.7m. Cashflow The Group had net debt at the end of 2006 of £4.8m, an increase in net debt of £8.9m from the net funds position of £4.1m at the end of 2005. There was a net cash outflow during the year of £5.8m and an increase in bank loans, primarily to fund property developments of £3.0m. The large outflow of funds during the year resulted from an increase in working capital of £9.8m, fixed asset acquisitions of £6.9m, £2.1m of dividend payments and £1.5m of additional contributions to the defined benefit pension schemes. The large increase in working capital in the year largely related to two separate events. One of these was the acquisition of land in Sheffield for a large property development and the other was a result of the awarding to Amalgamated Construction during the year of the Minor Works framework contracts for two additional Network Rail Territories. The Network Rail payment terms on these contracts requires the company to invest considerable sums of additional working capital. Pension Schemes The deficit on the Group's pension schemes as calculated by FRS 17 reduced during the year by £4.0m to £8.6m after allowing for deferred tax. This reduction in the deficit was a result of changes in the actuarial assumptions underlying the present value of the scheme liabilities and better than anticipated returns on the schemes' assets. The actual return on the scheme assets of £5.2m was £2.2m in excess of the anticipated return and the Group made contributions in the year £1.5m in excess of the current service charge. In addition the £2.1m of further actuarial gains caused the gross deficit to reduce by £5.8m before deferred tax. The Group intends to make additional contributions to the pension schemes in 2007 of £1.4m. International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) The Group is required to issue its financial statements for the year ending 31st December 2007 in accordance with IFRS, including the June 2007 interims, in line with mandatory AIM rules. The directors have started to consider the implications of these requirements, and in particular which areas of the Group's balance sheet and results would be significantly affected by the adoption of IFRS. This process has not been completed to date, but the key areas where differences in treatment between UK GAAP and IFRS may arise include: IAS 12 Income Taxes (Deferred Tax) IAS 16 Property, Plant and equipment IAS 31 Interests in joint ventures IAS 11 Construction Contracts A further update on IFRS matters will be provided to shareholders in due course, once the impact of the changes can be quantified in a sufficiently reliable manner and also in the interim report for the period ending 30 June 2007. I. Swire Group Financial Director 6th March 2007 Profit and loss account for the year ended 31st December 2006 2006 2005 £000 £000 £000 £000 Total turnover (including share of turnover in joint 135,730 125,982 ventures) Increase in work in progress 9,396 46 145,126 126,028 Less: share of turnover in joint (7,832) (7,222) ventures Group turnover 137,294 118,806 Raw materials and consumables 50,798 44,019 Other external charges 37,472 25,140 (88,270) (69,159) 49,024 49,647 Staff costs 36,298 37,783 Depreciation 2,905 2,349 Other operating charges 3,010 3,043 (42,213) (43,175) Group operating profit 6,811 6,472 Share of operating profit in joint 2,092 739 ventures Total operating profit 8,903 7,211 Net interest 10 (68) Other finance income /(cost) 24 (192) Profit on ordinary activities before 8,937 6,951 taxation Tax on profit on ordinary activities (2,751) (1,971) Profit transferred to reserves 6,186 4,980 Earnings per share (basic and diluted) 53.0p 42.7p Statement of total recognised gains and losses for the year ended 31st December 2006 2006 2005 £000 Profit for the financial year 6,186 4,980 Actuarial gain/(loss) recognised in the pension scheme 4,291 (1,858) Movement on deferred tax relating to pension liability (1,734) 342 Current tax relating to pension liability 447 215 Total recognised gains for the year 9,190 3,679 Consolidated balance sheet at 31st December 2006 2006 2005 £000 £000 £000 £000 Fixed assets Tangible assets 18,735 15,136 Investments 0 350 Investments in joint ventures: share of gross assets 4,765 12,595 share of gross liabilities (3,515) (10,934) 1,250 1,661 19,985 17,147 Current assets Stock and work in progress 21,591 11,381 Amounts recoverable on contracts 8,230 957 Debtors 13,756 15,823 Cash at bank and in hand 3,427 7,738 47,004 35,899 Creditors: amounts falling due (38,246) (28,653) within one year Net current assets 8,758 7,246 Total assets less current liabilities 28,743 24,393 Creditors: amounts falling due (3,089) (1,710) after more than one year Net assets excluding pension 25,654 22,683 liability Pension liability (8,592) (12,640) Net assets including pension 17,062 10,043 liability Capital and reserves Called up share capital 1,293 1,293 Share premium 1,864 1,864 Capital redemption reserve 132 132 Property revaluation reserve 3,284 3,284 Other reserves (869) (798) Profit and loss account 11,358 4,268 Shareholders' funds 17,062 10,043 Consolidated cashflow statement for the year ended 31st December 2006 2006 2005 £000 £000 £000 £000 Net cash (outflow)/inflow from operating (1,988) 7,702 activities Distributions from joint ventures 2,450 0 Returns on investments and servicing of finance Interest received 201 159 Interest paid (49) (87) Hire purchase interest paid (151) (140) Net cash inflow/(outflow) from returns 1 (68) on investments and servicing of finance Taxation (1,552) (486) Capital expenditure and financial investment Purchase of tangible fixed assets (4,981) (1,499) Sale of tangible fixed assets 805 702 Net cash outflow from capital expenditure and (4,176) (797) financial investment Acquisitions and disposals Sale of investment 372 0 Net cash inflow from acquisitions and 372 0 disposals Equity dividends paid (2,100) 0 Net cash (outflow)/inflow before (6,993) 6,351 financing Financing Bank and other loans 3,047 (2,290) Capital element of finance lease rentals (1,771) (1,739) Employee Share Ownership Plan - purchase of shares (104) (230) - disposal of shares 33 28 Net cash inflow/(outflow) from financing 1,205 (4,231) (Decrease)/increase in cash (5,788) 2,120 Notes: 1. Basis of preparation The financial information in this preliminary announcement has been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in the financial statements of Amco Corporation Plc for the year ended 31st December 2005, which have remained unchanged for the financial year ended 31st December 2006. 2. Accounts The summary accounts set out above do not constitute statutory accounts as defined by Section 240 of the UK Companies Act 1985. The summarised consolidated balance sheet at 31 December 2006, the summarised consolidated profit and loss account, the summarised consolidated cash flow statement and the summarised statement of total recognised gains and losses for the year then ended have been extracted from the Group's 2006 statutory financial statements upon which the auditors' opinion is unqualified. The statutory financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2006 were approved by the directors on 6th March 2007, but have not yet been delivered to the Registrar of Companies. 3. Earnings per share Earnings per ordinary share have been calculated on the basis of profit for the year after tax, divided by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue in the year (excluding those held in the ESOP Trust) of 11,674,408 (2005 - 11,654,508). 4. Preliminary announcement Copies of the preliminary announcement are available from the company's registered office at Amco House, Cedar Court Office Park, Denby Dale Road, Wakefield, WF4 3QZ. The Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31st December 2006 will be posted to shareholders on or about 30th April 2007. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
UK 100

Latest directors dealings