AGM Statement
Carillion PLC
11 May 2005
11 May 2005
Carillion plc AGM statement
At the company's Annual General Meeting in Birmingham today, Carillion chairman
Philip Rogerson made the following comments.
'I should like to begin by paying tribute to my predecessor, Sir Neville Simms,
who stood down as chairman and as a director of the company today.
'Sir Neville was chairman and chief executive of Carillion from its launch as an
independent company in 1999 until January 2001, since when he has been our
non-executive chairman.
'Sir Neville's leadership has been a key factor in establishing Carillion as one
of the UK's leading support services and construction companies. A clear vision,
strong values and consistent strategy have completely transformed Carillion's
business. At its launch in 1999, Carillion was predominantly a construction
company. Today, it generates around half its turnover and over two thirds of its
profit from support services, with the balance coming from a strong, but more
selective, construction business. As a result, the scale and quality of
Carillion's earnings have increased substantially, strong cash generation has
created a healthy balance sheet and its order book has grown significantly in
both size and quality.
'Sir Neville can be justifiably proud that he leaves Carillion in good shape and
in the hands of a Board that has been restructured and refreshed, in line with
the announcement he made at last year's AGM.
'On behalf of the Board I should also like to thank Jean-Paul Parayre, who left
the Board at the end of 2004, and Andrew Parrish who is not seeking re-election
today, for the significant contributions they have made to Carillion's success.
'The appointment of David Garman as a non-executive director in September 2004,
of myself as a non-executive director and deputy chairman in October 2004 and my
appointment as chairman today, complete the changes to the Board since the last
AGM.
'Turning to the outlook for 2005, trading conditions in our key markets have
remained positive and in line with expectations. In the first quarter of the
year, Carillion signed new orders worth over £450 million. Notable successes
include reaching financial close on the £150 million schools PPP contract for
Renfrewshire, a £100 million contract for new schools in Leeds, two NHS
contracts worth over £50 million, a further construction contract for the Dubai
Festival City development, worth nearly £60 million, and a highways maintenance
contract in Canada worth almost £40 million.
'In addition, we have announced this morning that a Carillion-led joint venture
has been selected by the Ministry of Defence as the designated support services
supplier for the Defence Housing PRIME contract worth in the region of £700
million. We have also agreed heads of terms for a three-year extension to the
Monteray facilities management contract with BT, potentially worth around £300
million, that would extend our existing five-year contract to March 2009. As a
result, our pipeline of probable new orders has increased to over £2.5 billion.
'Carillion is also continuing to invest to support and deliver growth, both
organically and by acquisition, in line with its strategy. The acquisition of
Planned Maintenance Engineering (PME), a leading UK building services and
maintenance company, in March 2005, is an excellent example. The integration of
PME is going well and the performance of the business is meeting our
expectations. As well as bringing good quality earnings to the Group, its strong
mechanical and electrical engineering maintenance capability is already
enhancing Carillion's ability to offer existing and new customers fully
integrated building services solutions.
'Given the Group's performance in the year to date, the healthy level of new
orders secured and growing pipeline of probable new orders, the Board remains
confident that Carillion will continue to make further progress in 2005'.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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