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| Share Name | Share Symbol | Market | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sensient Technologies Corp | TG:SSF | Tradegate | Ordinary Share |
| Price Change | % Change | Share Price | Bid Price | Offer Price | High Price | Low Price | Open Price | Shares Traded | Last Trade | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.00 | 1.52% | 67.00 | 66.50 | 67.00 | 66.00 | 65.50 | 66.00 | 184 | 22:50:18 |
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RNS Number:4377S
South Staffordshire Group PLC
25 November 2003
SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE GROUP PLC
INTERIM RESULTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2003
HIGHLIGHTS
Financial Results
*Turnover increased by 30% to #145.5m (2002: #111.7m)
*Operating profits increased by 20% to #21.0m (2002: #17.4m)
*HomeServe operating profits increased by 112%, reflecting strong
performance by Home Service
*Profit before tax and goodwill increased by 14% to #17.5m (2002: #15.3m)
*Earnings per share before goodwill increased by 5% to 18.0p (2002: 17.1p)
*Dividend per share increased by 9% to 6.1p (2002: 5.6p)
Operating Highlights
*Home Service now has 2.6m policies and has increased its retention rate
from 86% to 87%
*Highway is starting to benefit from the management and operational
changes made and has secured a major new customer, Royal and Sun Alliance
*Regency has performed well considering the downturn in the retail furnishing
market
*Commercial Outsourcing profits reduced, primarily reflecting the expected
absence of a large software licence sale and implementation
*The Customer Solutions Division has focused on developing a capability
for customers with high volume transactional work
*South Staffordshire Water continued to produce stable returns and again
ranked as second in the industry for levels of service
Brian Whitty, Chief Executive of South Staffordshire Group, commented: -
"I am delighted with the progress the Group is making in developing its
Support Services offering. The first six months of this year has been a
particularly strong period of growth for Home Service and we remain
confident in the overall Group prospects for the year."
25 November 2003
Enquiries
South Staffordshire Group Plc
Brian Whitty, Chief Executive Tel: 020 7457 2020 (today)
Andrew Belk, Finance Director Tel: 01922 618000 (thereafter)
College Hill
James Henderson Tel: 020 7457 2020
Tom Allison
CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT
Interim Results
In the six months ended 30 September 2003 the Group's turnover increased by 30%
to #145.5m (2002: #111.7m). Operating profits have increased 20% to #21.0m
(2002: #17.4m) and profit before tax and goodwill by 14% to #17.5m (2002:
#15.3m). Earnings per share before goodwill have increased by 5% to 18.0p (2002:
17.1p) incorporating a 1% increase in the effective tax rate to 29.5% and an
increase in the minority charge before goodwill to #0.9m (2002: #0.2m). The
Board has approved an interim dividend of 6.1p (2002: 5.6p), an increase of 9%.
Net debt at 30 September 2003 was #106m (31 March 2003: #103m) of which #99m was
within the Water Company.
HomeServe
HomeServe's turnover increased by 63% in the period to #70.9m (2002: #43.6m)
representing organic growth of 18% and the full six months contribution from
Regency and Highway, which were acquired in the first half of last year.
Home Service has grown its turnover by 33% to #37.6m (2002: #28.3m) and
operating profit by 141% to #6.5m (2002: #2.7m). In the first half of the last
financial year Home Service increased its marketing expenditure to acquire
additional new policies, which reduced trading profits in that period. The
benefit of these additional polices renewing, together with an increase in
overall renewal rates to just over 87%, has provided the basis for the strong
performance reported for the six months to 30 September 2003.
The number of Home Service policies has increased to 2.6m (31 March 2003: 2.4m),
up 27% from 30 September 2002 (2.04m policies). The most substantial area of
policy growth has been in the recently introduced supply pipe cover product.
This product provides a full emergency repair service to customer's water supply
pipes with a targeted two-hour response time. This product has been sold
primarily to existing members with 286,000 policies held as at 30 September
2003, an increase of 129,000 in the last six months.
We have secured an agreement with Scottish Water to market the plumbing and
drainage product in its area of supply. Scottish Water was formed from the
merger of the three former water authorities in Scotland and supplies water and
wastewater services to 2 million customers. This now provides us with full
coverage across Great Britain.
The number of gas boiler breakdown policies has increased to 100,000 as a result
of taking over policies from Zurich Warranty Management Services earlier in the
year and the acquisition in March 2003 of Servowarm. We have developed a low
cost boiler breakdown product which has achieved encouraging take-up in tests in
the summer and is currently being rolled out with a number of our water and
power company partners.
We have made progress in the development of our manufacturer warranty operation.
Over 77,000 customers have already registered their appliances on our Mira
Showers and Ideal Boiler warranty programmes. Registration and mailing take-ups,
on both of these schemes, are well ahead of those achieved by our partners with
their previous providers. We have recently secured agreement with Applied
Energy, to run their warranty programmes for Creda Heating, Redring Shower and
Xpelair Fan brands.
Home Service and Home Hotline, our claims handling and network management
operation, won a joint tender to manage Home Emergency business on behalf of
Norwich Union Direct, for which marketing has recently begun. Under this
agreement, Home Service handles the policy administration whilst Home Hotline
handles claims and deploys jobs to its contractor network. Home Hotline was also
recently appointed by Royal Bank of Scotland to manage a Home Emergency product
for 550,000 premier bank account holders.
We have made progress in developing an employed network of plumbing and drainage
specialists to work alongside our subcontract network. The service, which is
operated under the Highway brand, supports Home Service but is now extending its
customer base and offering to Household Insurers, undertaking major drainage
repairs. Customers now include both Prudential and Royal and Sun Alliance.
Regency achieved an operating profit of #2.1m consistent with #2.1m for the full
six months to 30 September 2002. This is a good performance against the
background of the downturn in the retail furnishings market over the summer
period. Additionally, the results reflect the successful replacement of the
structural warranty product operated for Harveys with an alternative extended
warranty product. Regency is continuing to develop its high quality upholstery
repair and cleaning operation, which works on behalf of retailers and
manufacturers and has recently secured a number of new accounts. In addition,
Regency has started to trial upholstery repair and cleaning on behalf of a
number of household insurers, including Nationwide, Legal and General and
Fortis. Regency is confident that there will be strong demand for a national
service, which can demonstrate substantial savings for insurers from repair
rather than cash settlement of accidental damage.
Highway made an operating loss of #0.2m compared to a profit of #0.2m for the
full six months to 30 September 2002 in a period that is seasonally quiet for
this business. Highway has made significant operational advances over the last
few months, although this is not yet reflected in the trading performance. The
strengthening of the management team in the summer has proved to be a successful
catalyst for a number of initiatives, which should improve profitability in the
longer term. We have already seen the impact of improved operational management
over the last few months, examples include increased conversion of insurance
leads and improving levels of productivity. Other initiatives include the
development of new systems, which will automate workflow and invoicing to allow
reductions in overheads. In addition, changes in procurement methods are
realising cost reductions with our major suppliers. Highway is also now seeing
the benefit of the new Royal and Sun Alliance account, which commenced in
September 2003, and is already the third largest customer.
Our business in France, which is operated through a joint venture with Veolia
Environnement and branded as General des Eaux Services, now has over 100,000
policies compared to 9,000 twelve months ago and the plumbing product will
continue to be rolled out into new regions within France.
Commercial Outsourcing
The Group's outsourcing businesses, which comprise OnSite and Customer
Solutions, increased turnover by 15% to #54.1m (2002: #47.3m) reflecting the
full six months contribution from Middleton/Doorman, which was acquired in
August 2002. Operating profits have reduced to #4.5m (2002: #5.5m) primarily due
to the absence of a large Rapid software licence sale and implementation.
The trading results for Commercial Outsourcing, excluding Rapid, show net
margins reducing from 9.6% to 9% with no organic growth in turnover. This result
reflects the competitive nature of the market. The individual businesses have
continued to develop their own niche offerings with some success, but these are
yet to reflect in a significant increase in profitability.
The Customer Solutions division has been developing its capability for
transactional work particularly in the financial and telecom sectors. Examples
include data processing, printing and distribution of billing documents on
behalf of financial services customers as well as customer contact management
and sales order processing.
The OnSite and Middleton/Doorman businesses have been affected by inconsistent
workload from major contracts as a result of customer internal re-organisations
and the exceptionally dry summer period reducing reactive drainage work. However
Middleton/Doorman have been successful in winning national and regional
contracts through facilities management providers for both Shell and HSBC.
Additionally, OnSite has started new contract work for Anglian Water and
Scottish Water who both have substantial future requirements.
Regulated Water Supply
Turnover from Regulated Water Supply increased by 3% to #30.1m (2002: #29.3m)
with operating profits increasing to #8.1m (2002: #8.0m). OFWAT has again ranked
South Staffordshire Water as the second highest in the industry for levels of
service with the annual average household bill for water supply continuing to be
the second lowest in the industry.
South Staffordshire Water submitted its draft business plan to OFWAT on 15
August 2003, as part of OFWAT's price review for the five years 2005 to 2010.
The draft business plan requests a real term price increase over the five-year
period of 12.8%. As part of the business plan, the company proposes to increase
the rate of mains renewal by 40% in response to the increasing level of bursts
in recent years. The Company will however be able to reduce investment in water
quality and environmental projects following the successful completion of the
large programme of works in these areas in the current five-year review period.
The Company's draft business plan contains a capital expenditure investment
programme of #118m before capital contributions of #15m, broadly consistent with
the current five-year period.
South Staffordshire Water continues to be one of the most efficient operations
in the industry. The Company will continue to seek efficiency improvements over
the five years 2005 to 2010. The business has successfully achieved the targeted
14% real reduction in operating costs imposed by OFWAT for the five-year period
to 2005, with the result that further large savings are not achievable. The
draft business plan confirms our intention to deliver the best value for money
services combining high levels of service and low prices.
Although the summer and autumn have been particularly dry, the Company has a
wide variety of water resources available and does not foresee the need to
interrupt its 25 year record of avoiding supply restrictions. Water can be drawn
from deep boreholes, from our impounding reservoir at Blithfield or from the
River Severn, itself backed by reservoir storage controlled by the Environment
Agency. Nevertheless, arrangements have been put in place to conserve
Blithfield, which is currently half-full and it is expected that normal winter
rainfall will adequately recharge the reservoir by the spring.
Prospects
The Group's activities will continue to be heavily weighted towards the second
half of the financial year, reflecting increased levels of activity in most of
our service businesses across the winter months.
Home Service is currently experiencing a good response to its autumn marketing
campaigns, Regency has seen some early signs of improvement in the retail
furnishings market and Highway is expected to benefit from the positive impact
of the recent changes made. Commercial Outsourcing should benefit from its new
service offerings. The Regulated Water Supply business is expected to continue
to demonstrate very high levels of performance and service.
The Directors remain confident in the prospects for the year.
Lindsay Bury
25 November 2003
CONSOLIDATED PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT
FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2003
Six months Six months Year
ended ended Ended
30 September 30 September 31 March
2003 2002 2003
Note #'000 #'000 #'000
Turnover
Turnover 2 145,526 111,689 265,794
Less share of joint
ventures' turnover (2,269) (2,000) (4,456)
------------------------------------
Group turnover 143,257 109,689 261,338
------------------------------------
Operating profit
Operating profit before
goodwill 3 20,998 17,432 50,491
Goodwill amortisation (3,629) (2,416) (5,973)
------------------------------------
17,369 15,016 44,518
Net interest payable (3,536) (2,097) (5,962)
------------------------------------
Profit before tax and 17,462 15,335 44,529
goodwill
Goodwill amortisation (3,629) (2,416) (5,973)
------------------------------------
Profit on ordinary
activities
before taxation 13,833 12,919 38,556
Taxation on profit on
ordinary activities 4 (5,151) (4,370) (12,789)
----------------------------------
Profit on ordinary
activities
after taxation 8,682 8,549 25,767
Minority shareholders'
equity interests (221) 190 (1,780)
--------------------------------
Profit for the financial 8,461 8,739 23,987
period
Dividends paid and 6
proposed (3,859) (3,516) (11,340)
---------------------------------
Retained profit 4,602 5,223 12,647
---------------------------------
Earnings per share
Basic 5 13.4p 13.9p 38.2p
Adjusted - basic
excluding goodwill 5 18.0p 17.1p 45.9p
Diluted 5 13.3p 13.8p 37.9p
Diluted - excluding
goodwill 5 17.9p 16.9p 45.5p
Dividend per share 6 6.1p 5.6p 18.0p
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
AT 30 SEPTEMBER 2003
30 September 30 September 31 March
2003 2002 2003
(Restated)
#'000 #'000 #'000
Fixed assets
Goodwill 121,192 126,696 127,363
Tangible assets 176,641 168,310 171,122
Investments - 19 -
------------------------------------
297,833 295,025 298,485
------------------------------------
Current assets
Stocks 7,034 5,440 6,103
Debtors 74,977 70,925 76,527
Cash at bank and in hand 8,809 9,649 10,792
------------------------------------
90,820 86,014 93,422
------------------------------------
Creditors - amounts falling
due within one year
Borrowings (23,871) (34,671) (22,892)
Other creditors (97,124) (90,018) (99,050)
------------------------------------
(120,995) (124,689) (121,942)
Net current liabilities (30,175) (38,675) (28,520)
------------------------------------
Total assets less current 267,658 256,350 269,965
liabilities
Creditors - amounts falling
due after more than one year
Borrowings (91,306) (90,167) (91,021)
Other creditors - deferred
consideration (13,521) (23,473) (21,473)
------------------------------------
(104,827) (113,640) (112,494)
Provisions for liabilities and
charges (10,125) (7,885) (9,218)
Accruals and deferred income (17,819) (15,160) (18,454)
------------------------------------
Net assets 134,887 119,665 129,799
------------------------------------
Capital and reserves
Share capital 6,324 6,282 6,315
Share premium 16,776 15,110 16,520
Capital redemption reserve 1,200 1,200 1,200
Profit and loss account 106,208 94,700 101,606
------------------------------------
Equity shareholders' funds 130,508 117,292 125,641
Minority shareholders' equity
interests 4,379 2,373 4,158
----------------------------------
134,887 119,665 129,799
---------------------------------
CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT
FOR THE SIX MONTHS ENDED 30 SEPTEMBER 2003
Six months Six months Year
ended ended ended
30 September 30 September 31 March
2003 2002 2003
Note #'000 #'000 #'000
Net cash inflow from
operating activities
Operating profit 17,369 15,016 44,518
Depreciation and profit
on disposals of assets 8,723 7,810 16,650
Amortisation of
goodwill 3,629 2,416 5,973
Share of operating loss
in joint ventures 296 336 408
Provision against
investments - - 52
Decrease/(increase) in
working capital 1,100 (392) (1,017)
-----------------------------------
31,117 25,186 66,584
------------------------------------
Returns on investments
and servicing of finance
Net interest paid (2,287) (1,534) (3,725)
Dividends paid to
minority interests (1,415) (1,216) (2,293)
-----------------------------------
(3,702) (2,750) (6,018)
------------------------------------
Corporation tax paid (5,306) (5,133) (12,958)
------------------------------------
Capital expenditure and
financial investment
Purchase of tangible
fixed assets (17,538) (18,351) (31,755)
Investment in joint
ventures - (100) (100)
Purchase of own shares - (32) (32)
Sale of tangible fixed
assets 548 326 1,070
Capital contributions
received 2,911 2,727 4,795
-----------------------------------
(14,079) (15,430) (26,022)
-----------------------------------
Acquisitions and
disposals
Investment in subsidiary
undertakings 8 (2,300) (76,019) (78,929)
----------------------------------
Equity dividends paid (7,822) (6,961) (10,481)
----------------------------------
Financing
Issue of ordinary share
capital 265 66 991
Proceeds from bond issue - 83,712 83,712
Repayment of loan notes (144) (401) (3,364)
Finance lease and hire
purchase payments (697) (181) (1,285)
----------------------------------
(576) 83,196 80,054
--------------------------------
(Decrease)/increase in cash (2,668) 2,089 12,230
---------------------------------
Reconciliation of
movement in net debt
(Decrease)/increase in
cash (1,983) 2,682 3,825
(Increase)/decrease in
bank overdraft (685) (593) 8,405
---------------------------------
(2,668) 2,089 12,230
Debt in companies
acquired - (1,455) (1,455)
Debt issued in respect
of acquisitions - (3,761) (3,761)
Assets purchased under
finance leases (200) (100) (788)
Index-linked bond
- proceeds from issue - (83,712) (83,712)
- indexation (1,220) (253) (1,705)
Debt repayments 841 582 4,649
---------------------------------
Increase in net debt in
period (3,247) (86,610) (74,542)
Net debt brought forward (103,121) (28,579) (28,579)
-----------------------------------
Net debt carried forward 9 (106,368) (115,189) (103,121)
-----------------------------------
NOTES
1 Financial reporting
The group's principal accounting policies are consistent with those adopted in
the financial statements for the year ended 31 March 2003 and with those adopted
in the interim financial statements for the six months ended 30 September 2002.
In line with the accounts at 31 March 2003 the presentation of the balance sheet
at 30 September 2002 has been changed to show amounts of #10,922,000 previously
included within creditors due within one year under the heading accruals and
deferred income.
This interim financial information is unaudited and does not constitute
statutory accounts. Comparative figures for the year ended 31 March 2003 have
been extracted from the latest published accounts which received an unqualified
audit report and have been filed with the Registrar of Companies.
2 Turnover
Six months Six months Year
ended ended ended
30 September 30 September 31 March
2003 2002 2003
#'000 #'000 #'000
HomeServe 70,854 43,600 121,267
Commercial outsourcing 54,189 47,321 104,026
Inter division (9,619) (8,501) (18,335)
------------------------------------------
Support services 115,424 82,420 206,958
Regulated water supply 30,102 29,269 58,836
-----------------------------------------
145,526 111,689 265,794
-----------------------------------------
Inter divisional turnover relates wholly to commercial outsourcing.
3 Operating profit
Six months Six months Year
ended ended ended
30 September 30 September 31 March
2003 2002 2003
#'000 #'000 #'000
HomeServe 8,337 3,930 23,997
Commercial outsourcing 4,517 5,540 9,980
--------------------------------------
Support services 12,854 9,470 33,977
Regulated water supply 8,144 7,962 16,514
---------------------------------------
20,998 17,432 50,491
Goodwill amortisation (3,629) (2,416) (5,973)
----------------------------------------
17,369 15,016 44,518
---------------------------------------
Operating profit includes the group's share of losses in joint ventures of
#296,000 for the period (six months ended 30 September 2002: #336,000, year
ended 31 March 2003: #408,000).
4 Taxation
The tax charge is based on the estimated effective tax rate, calculated on
profit before goodwill, for the full year to 31 March 2004 of 29.5% (six months
ended 30 September 2002: 28.5%, year ended 31 March 2003: 28.7%), including
deferred tax.
5 Earnings per share
Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the profit for the financial
period by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the
period. Adjusted earnings per share is calculated excluding goodwill.
Six months Six months Year
ended ended ended
30 September 30 September 31 March
2003 2002 2003
#'000 #'000 #'000
Profit for the financial 8,461 8,739 23,987
period
Amortisation of goodwill
- total 3,629 2,416 5,973
- relating to minority
shareholders (719) (451) (1,145)
----------------------------------
Adjusted profit for the
period 11,371 10,704 28,815
----------------------------------
Weighted average number of
shares (000's)
Basic 63,184 62,746 62,772
Diluted 63,538 63,504 63,319
---------------------------------
6 Dividend per share
An interim dividend of 6.1p (2002: 5.6p) per share has been approved and will be
paid on 2 January 2004 to shareholders on the register at the close of business
on 5 December 2003.
The dividend from the regulated water business to the ultimate parent company
was #1.48m (2002: #2.05m).
7 Reconciliation of movements in shareholders' funds
Six months Six months Year
ended ended ended
30 September 30 September 31 March
2003 2002 2003
#'000 #'000 #'000
Profit for the financial
period 8,461 8,739 23,987
Dividends (3,859) (3,516) (11,340)
-----------------------------------
4,602 5,223 12,647
New share capital subscribed 265 66 991
----------------------------------
Net additions to shareholders'
funds 4,867 5,289 13,638
Opening shareholders' funds 125,641 112,003 112,003
----------------------------------
Closing shareholders' funds 130,508 117,292 125,641
----------------------------------
8 Acquisitions
Deferred consideration of #2,300,000 was paid in the period in respect of
Regency Financial Holdings Plc which was acquired in May 2002.
Adjustments to goodwill in the period of #2,542,000 relate to a reduction in the
anticipated level of deferred consideration payable.
9 Analysis of net debt
30 September 30 September 31 March
2003 2002 2003
#'000 #'000 #'000
Bank overdraft, net of cash at
bank and in hand (10,765) (18,238) (8,097)
Irredeemable debenture stock (1,633) (1,633) (1,633)
Index-linked bond (86,637) (83,965) (85,417)
Obligations under finance (5,056) (5,969) (5,553)
leases
Loan notes (2,277) (5,384) (2,421)
----------------------------------
Net debt (106,368) (115,189) (103,121)
-----------------------------------
The retail price index-linked unsecured bond was issued by South Staffordshire
Water PLC and is repayable in 2025.
10 Other information
This interim report is being sent to shareholders and further copies will be
available from the registered office at Green Lane, Walsall, WS2 7PD.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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