6 September 2017 – trading update
A trading update has been released to coincide with the company’s AGM. Trading performance and the company’s financial position remain in line with management expectations and the outlook for the year ending 31 March 2018 remains unchanged. As a result of the current phasing of contract works, results for the full year are expected to be more first half weighted than in the previous year. The UK order book was £221m as at 1 September (1 June: £229m), in line with normal order book levels which typically equate to eight to ten months of annualised revenue. In India, operational performance remains good and the repayment of the joint venture’s term debt in June 2017 will benefit profitability this year. The India order book was £64m at 1 September (1 June: £73m). Interim results for the period ending 30 September 2017 will be released on 21 November 2017. We retain our BUY rating.