Consultancy financial results round-up
21-Nov-08
Mouchel
The multidisciplinary consulting and public services specialist has released its annual report for the twelve months ending 31 July 2008. Group revenue leapt 46% to £657 million, with organic growth contributing 14% of the increase. Underlying operating profit (before tax and exceptional items) rose 27% to £41.7 million, representing an operating margin of 6.4% (compared to 7.4% in 2006/07).
Mouchel’s forward order book is only slightly down this year at £2.1 billion, compared to £2.2 billion in 2006/07, providing “great comfort to staff and shareholders alike, particularly in the current general economic climate”. “Our investment of building a wider range of service offers, predominantly directed at the public sector and public service industries has proved effective,” states group chairman Richard Benton. The strategy is designed to “offer resilience to the cyclical nature of some existing markets.”
The group reports environmental revenues of £97 million for the last financial year, representing a 10% increase over 2006/07. This includes a substantial contribution (around two thirds) from water and wastewater management services, including integrated design-build-operate contracts, asset management and maintenance engineering services, which would not all be considered to be environmental consulting in the strictest sense. Environmental impact assessment (EIA) is another core area of focus.
Commenting on the development of the environmental business, marketing manager Louise Elliott said: “Our environmental assessment and management capability has really taken off in the past 18 months as we have made a transition from a specialist support facility to a national force in multidisciplinary environmental consultancy. Over this period, we have established strength and depth in specialist disciplines including ecology, landscape and urban design, heritage, acoustics and air quality, in support of our previous core business in EIA and sustainability.”
She adds that the economic slowdown and turmoil in construction and finance-related markets “have not had a noticeable impact yet. Much of our work is on previously committed, major public sector infrastructure projects which have so far remained unaffected by the wider economic situation."
The majority of Mouchel’s 1,800 environmental staff are based in the UK, but work in the Middle East “is taking off dramatically” and the group has recently established local teams in Dubai and Abi Dhabi.
Mouchel remains confident in the longer-term prospects of the environmental consulting sector. “Environmental and sustainability issues continue to move towards centre stage… and are regarded as ever-more important considerations in development and planning and are a key part of Mouchel’s service offering,” said Ms Elliott. Climate change, and the increasing focus on carbon management, “represents an opportunity for Mouchel to provide support to both public and private sector clients”. The annual report points to "an emerging market for consultancy and managed services to those organisations affected by the new legislation" stemming from the Climate Change Bill, which commits Britain to an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Mouchel has also published a corporate responsibility report.
Arcadis
The Netherlands-based consulting and engineering group reports a 5% increase in revenues for the third quarter of the financial year to €427 million, while profitability has been maintained at a "strong level". Organic growth contributed 3% of the revenue increase, “despite slowing growth in the UK and US”. Total gross revenues for the first nine months were up by 15% to €1.3 billion.
Group CEO Harrie Noy commented: “To date, the influence of the credit crisis for Arcadis has been limited. In the English real estate market there is pressure on our services, while in the US environmental market the growth is slowing, partly as a result of the completion of a number of large projects with a significant amount of sub-contracted services. Nevertheless the organic growth of our own services remained high at 8%, while the margin was maintained. By focusing early on cost controls and intensifying marketing efforts in areas that offer good opportunity, we have anticipated market changes.”
The company is focusing environmental business development efforts on sectors with “continued high demand” such as oil and gas companies and utilities. Arcadis reports a “growing interest” in its guaranteed remediation product “GriP”, among both public and private sector clients in the US and Europe.
Waterman Group
The engineering and environmental consultancy PLC has released an interim management statement for the first half of the financial year ending 30 June 2009. It reports trading in line with the board’s expectations, including an increase in turnover assisted by the group’s strategy to focus on increasing the proportion of work generated by overseas projects.
However, the statement does confirm a freeze on recruitment across the group. “In the UK, certain areas of the private sector have become more challenging. Consequently, we have decided to minimise expenditure and defer recruitment until the economy improves,” it says.
AMEC
The group’s interim management statement reports a record year-to-date trading performance for 2008. “Demand for our services has remained strong and we are confident of delivering a margin in excess of 6.5 per cent this year. Our clients remain focused on long-term fundamentals and we continue to see a strong and diverse range of attractive prospective contracts across the business,” said chief executive Samir Brikho.
“AMEC’s net cash position is exceptionally strong. We look to the future with measured confidence and continue to monitor opportunities for growth through selective acquisition.” Since 1 July 2008, AMEC has been awarded contracts with a combined value of £700 million for delivery over the next five years, a substantial proportion of which are derived from its natural resources markets.
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