Interim Results
Kier Group PLC
21 March 2005
21 March 2005
KIER GROUP PLC
INTERIM RESULTS FOR THE SIX MONTHS TO 31 DECEMBER 2004
• Pre-tax profits, including exceptional profits of £5.9m, up 87.4% to
£32.8m* (2003: £17.5m)
• EPS, excluding exceptional profits, up 49.7% to 53.0p* (2003: 35.4p)
• Dividend per share up 16.7% to 7.0p (2003: 6.0p)
• Construction & Services order books at £1.82bn with improving quality
• Unit completions and current forward order book together secure our
full year expected sales in Homes
• Mixed-use and regeneration schemes are providing good opportunities
for the Group
* Results above are shown after adding back £1.3m (2003: £1.3m) relating to
goodwill amortisation.
After deducting goodwill amortisation results are:
• Pre-tax profits, including exceptional profits of £5.9m, up 94.4% to
£31.5m (2003: £16.2m)
• EPS up 67.8% to 54.7p (2003: 32.6p)
Commenting on the results, John Dodds, Chief Executive, said:
"I am pleased to report that Kier Group has delivered excellent results for the
six months to 31 December 2004. Our Homes division, in particular, had a strong
result taking advantage of an exceptional forward order book at 1 July 2004.
This has contributed to a shift in the balance of profit generation between the
first and the second halves of this financial year.
"Looking forward I have more confidence in Kier's prospects than ever before.
There is great potential for further growth in this business and I am excited at
the opportunities that are available to us within each division and across the
Group as a whole."
Chief Executive's review
Overview
I am pleased to report that Kier Group has delivered excellent results for the
six months to 31 December 2004. Earnings before interest, tax, goodwill
amortisation and exceptional profits improved 53.0% to £28.0m (2003: £18.3m)
and, after exceptional profits of £5.9m (2003: £nil), pre-tax profits increased
94.4% to £31.5m (2003: £16.2m). All divisions contributed to this achievement;
our Homes division, in particular, had a strong result taking advantage of an
exceptional forward order book at 1 July 2004. This has contributed to a shift
in the balance of profit generation between the first and the second halves of
this financial year.
The markets in Construction have remained sound throughout the period with both
public sector expenditure and private sector demand contributing to our order
books. In Support Services we have secured a new building maintenance contract
at Leeds, which will provide turnover of £10m per annum for five years, and our
list of potential bids in the local authority outsourcing arena has
strengthened.
Whilst we experienced a cooling in the housing market in the fourth quarter of
calendar 2004, visitor levels and reservations in the post Christmas period
provide confidence that modest year on year growth in unit sales will be
achieved.
In Property, growth continues and more schemes have been identified for
potential investment including those for mixed-use development in joint venture
with our Homes business. We have continued our record of success in PFI having
recently achieved preferred bidder status on two projects bringing us to our
sixth consecutive successful bid in two years. Following on from the
refinancing of our investment in Hairmyres Hospital in August 2004, we sold our
25.5% share in the investment in the Neath Port Talbot Hospital concession in
December 2004.
Our focus on providing an integrated service to clients through combining the
skills across the Group has been maintained. We were pleased to have exchanged
contracts with Network Rail in December on a six acre site in Poole Harbour.
Led by Kier Residential and involving the skills of our Regional Contracting,
Rail and Property businesses this site will provide 250 residential units within
a mixed use scheme. Further regeneration schemes are being actively pursued and
we believe that the Group is uniquely placed to deliver them using our wide
range of in-house skills.
Results
Turnover at £816.1m (2003: £726.6m) was 12.3% ahead of last year; operating
profit after goodwill amortisation was 57.1% ahead at £26.7m (2003: £17.0m); and
pre-tax profit, before exceptional profits, at £25.6m (2003: £16.2m) was 58.0%
ahead.
The exceptional profits of £5.9m (2003: £nil) comprise £2.1m arising on the sale
of our investment in the Neath Port Talbot Hospital concession and £3.8m on the
sale of a property fixed asset. Tax of 30% has been charged on the combined
profit. In addition, whilst no profit has been recognised, an exceptional tax
charge of £2.5m has arisen following refinancing and subsequent cash extraction
from the PFI investment vehicle for Hairmyres Hospital.
Basic earnings per share after all exceptional items increased by 67.8% to 54.7p
(2003: 32.6p). Adjusted earnings per share before goodwill amortisation and
exceptional profits and tax increased by 49.7% to 53.0p (2003: 35.4p).
The trading result achieved in the six months to 31 December 2004 was supported
by outstanding cash generation. Overall there was a £62.6m inflow in the period
resulting in a cash balance of £70.2m, net of debt, at 31 December 2004 with
£62.3m generated from operating activities. The Construction division generated
£35m in the period and on average maintained cash balances £27m ahead of last
year. £17.8m was raised from the sale of the assets contributing to the
exceptional items and refinancing an investment.
The Board has declared an interim dividend of 7.0p (2003: 6.0p), an increase of
16.7% continuing the growth record of 15% or more achieved since 1997. This is
7.2 times covered by earnings per share before exceptional items. The dividend
will be paid to shareholders on 19 May 2005 with the usual scrip alternative.
Construction
The Construction segment comprises Regional Contracting, which includes both
Affordable Housing and Major Building Projects, and our Infrastructure &
Overseas operations.
Operating profit in Construction grew sharply by 62.5% to £6.5m (2003: £4.0m) on
turnover up 4.9% to £530.1m (2003: £505.5m). The operating margin improved from
0.9% last year to 1.3% before goodwill amortisation as a result of our
persistent focus on low-risk, negotiated and partnered work. The order book at
31 December 2004 was maintained at £600m with a further £285m awarded
subsequently contributing to a total forward order book of £723m at 28 February
2005.
A good trading result was achieved by Regional Contracting, supported by a
strong cash performance, culminating in record cash balances of £189.1m at 31
December 2004 (2003: £148.7m). Contract awards totalled £391m in the period
bringing the Regional order book to £483m at 31 December 2004. As expected
public sector awards increased to 37% from 34% in the same period last year with
education awards providing 25% of the total and health 11%. Further awards are
pending finalisation through the ProCure21 initiative for NHS Estates. Private
sector awards in the period continued to be driven by retail as well as hotel
and leisure opportunities. The order book is supported by a strong pipeline of
probable awards leading us to expect further growth in turnover in the second
half of the year.
In the UK, Infrastructure & Overseas made good progress on its rail contracts
for CTRL and has recently been awarded a structures maintenance framework
contract for Network Rail in East Anglia which will provide £100m of turnover
over five years. We were also pleased to have been selected as preferred bidder
for a further framework agreement, in joint venture, for United Utilities under
its Asset Management Programme 4 which will provide us with turnover of £130m
over five years extendable for a further five. Our private opencast coal mine in
Scotland is making good progress. 500,000 tonnes of coal have been transported
from the site and we have forward sold over 60% of total expected coal sales at
favourable prices.
Overseas we have completed the contract in Hong Kong for the Kowloon Canton
Railway Corporation and are exploring further opportunities with the same
client. Our long-term relationship with Alcoa continues to bear fruit with
significant opportunities emerging on low-risk terms.
Support Services
Overall turnover increased by 11.5% to £108.3m (2003: £97.1m) with operating
profit edging forward to £1.2m (2003: £1.1m) and to £2.2m before goodwill
amortisation giving a margin of 2.0%.
Good results were achieved by the Building Maintenance division which includes
contracts for Sheffield City Council, Islington Borough Council and now Leeds
City Council. Following the maximum award of three stars by central Government,
Sheffield City Council recently received confirmation of part of its £1bn
funding allocation under the Decent Homes initiative to be spent over the next
five years, of which we anticipate our share to be around £175m. The excellent
service we provide at Sheffield was acknowledged recently when Kier Sheffield
LLP was named Public Private Partnership of the Year in the National Awards for
Local Government at which Sheffield City Council was also awarded Council of the
Year. At Islington we have secured a further £40m under Decent Homes over five
years. Further opportunities for new contracts are emerging in this sector
giving us a high level of confidence in future growth.
In Managed Services we are continuing our focus to improve margins by selective
bidding. Our portfolio of contracts on which we provide services under the PFI
is continuing to expand with a further £79m either awarded or on which we were
selected as preferred bidder in the six months to 31 December 2004.
With good opportunities emerging we expect to achieve further growth this
financial year.
Homes
An exceptionally strong forward order book at 1 July 2004 and continued demand
for our homes during the early part of the financial year provided Kier
Residential with a 28.3% increase in housing completions to 721 (2003: 562).
This has resulted in a shift in sales towards the first half of the year.
Turnover rose 29.5% to £134.5m (2003: £103.9m) including a land sale of £4.4m
(2003: £nil); excluding the land sale it rose 25.2%. Average selling prices
reduced to £180,500 (2003: £184,800) reflecting a planned reduction in unit size
offset by an increase in income per square foot and an increase in the number of
affordable housing units from 3% to 10% of total unit sales.
Operating profit increased by 48.8% to £19.2m, excluding land sales, (2003:
£12.9m) lifting the margin to 14.7%, well ahead of last year's 12.4%. The
margin for private housing improved even further but was partially diluted by
the increase in lower margin affordable housing units completed in the period.
At 31 December 2004 the land bank contained 5,256 plots with planning consent
(2003: 3,358) representing over four years' trading. Although the number of
plots increased from those at 30 June 2004 the cash investment in land reduced
marginally representing a reduction in average cost per plot which reflects our
cautious approach to land buying. In addition to the consented land bank we
control 14,400 units of strategic land which are being progressed through the
planning system. We have increased our focus on brownfield and regeneration
sites, which can be delivered within a shorter timescale than greenfield sites,
drawing upon the skills and resources from elsewhere within the Group. An
example of this is a brownfield site in Peterborough which we acquired in
December 2002 and on which we secured outline planning consent for 550 units in
January 2005.
Since early January 2005 there has been a higher level of visitors to our sites
than in the autumn of 2004, and an increase in demand for our homes. Unit
completions and current forward order book together secure our full year
expected sales which are anticipated to show a modest increase over last year
reflecting our focus on profitability over volume.
Property
The Property segment recorded operating profit of £4.6m for the period, 12.2%
ahead of last year's £4.1m. A number of developments were sold by Kier
Developments (our joint venture company) which, when coupled with an element of
rental income, provided operating profits of £2.2m out of the £4.6m.
Within our wholly owned business we secured the advance sale of a 90,000sq ft
office development in Swindon, to be occupied by the National Trust. The cash
proceeds were received in full in July 2004, in advance of construction by Kier
Regional, with completion expected in April 2005. Progress is also being made
to secure an opportunity for 200,000sq ft of offices pre-let to a major
multi-national company in Milton Keynes. Kier Regional will carry out the
construction when contracts are finalised.
The business continues to benefit from opportunities in office, industrial and
retail development including mixed-use and regeneration projects and, given the
return on capital of around 50% achieved over the last three and a half years,
we are keen to seek out further non-speculative development opportunities.
Infrastructure Investment
Our PFI business continued its track record of success both in new projects and
in achieving returns from the existing portfolio. We are delighted to have
recently been announced as preferred bidder on a £26m treatment centre at
Ipswich, our fifth PFI health project. Kier Regional will carry out the
construction work for this project and Caxton will carry out the support
services contract for the 30-year concession. We have also, recently been
announced preferred bidder on our first police headquarters in North Kent. Kier
Regional will carry out the construction on the building, which has a capital
value of £25m.
In August 2004 we refinanced our first PFI project, Hairmyres Hospital. After
contributing 30% of the gain to the Lanarkshire Health Board, the refinancing
provided us with £8.1m of cash. No profit can be recognised on the gain unless
we dispose of the investment but tax is payable. Consequently an exceptional
tax charge of £2.5m has been recognised in the accounts for the six months to 31
December 2004.
In December 2004 we disposed of our 25.5% investment in the Neath Port Talbot
Hospital concession to Secondary Market Infrastructure Fund UK LP. We received
a cash consideration of £5.0m on the sale and generated an exceptional profit of
£2.1m.
Following the disposal, our portfolio of investments comprises eleven projects
with a committed investment of £18.3m on which we expect to achieve a long-term
average yield of around 15%. A secondary market for investments is developing
and we believe that values will continue to improve.
Pensions
The Group continues to take a responsible approach to the future funding
requirements of the Kier Group Pension Scheme and has taken various actions over
recent years to control the deficit under FRS 17, which at 30 June 2004 stood at
£67.2m net of deferred tax. In March 2005, using the cash proceeds from
refinancing the Hairmyres PFI investment and the sale of the investment in the
Neath Port Talbot Hospital PFI concession, the Group made a £12.0m special cash
contribution to the pension fund. For SSAP 24 purposes the contribution will be
treated as a prepayment in the annual accounts and consequently will have no
impact on operating profits for the year to 30 June 2005.
Health & Safety
The continuing campaign involving our supply chain in all aspects of health and
safety awareness has made a further reduction in the accident incident rate ('
AIR') during 2004. The AIR in December 2004 was 609 per 100,000 staff and
contractors; this AIR was measured against the 2004 Health & Safety Executive
Construction benchmark of 1,172. The new benchmark set for 2005 is 1,023 per
100,000.
Kier Group's 'Don't Walk By' campaign 'Taking Steps to Safer Sites' has focused
our staff and contractors on striving to reduce the AIR even further.
Prospects
Kier continues on its path with sound financial strength; an increasing pool of
committed talented people; and good opportunities in all of our markets.
Our order books in Construction and Services, supported by a healthy pipeline of
opportunities, contain an increasing number of good quality contracts which will
provide further growth. In Housing, reservation levels are showing signs of
more sustainable market conditions. The next quarter's sales will be important
to providing further evidence to support this trend. In Property, opportunities
continue to emerge and in PFI our pipeline of projects will provide further
growth.
Looking forward I have more confidence in Kier's prospects than ever before.
There is great potential for further growth in this business and I am excited at
the opportunities that are available to us within each division and across the
Group as a whole.
For further information, please contact:
John Dodds, Chief Executive
Kier Group plc Tel: 01767 640111
Deena Mattar, Finance Director
Kier Group plc Tel: 01767 640111
Caroline Sturdy
Madano Partnership Tel: 020 7378 7033
Kier Group plc
Consolidated Profit and Loss account
Unaudited Unaudited
6 months to 6 months to Year to
31 December 31 December 30 June
2004 2003 2004
Notes £m £m £m
Total turnover - Continuing operations 1 816.1 726.6 1,476.5
------------ ------------ -----------
Group operating profit - Continuing operations 23.9 14.7 39.4
Share of operating profit - joint ventures 2.8 2.3 3.2
------------ ------------ -----------
Operating profit: Group and share of joint
ventures 1 26.7 17.0 42.6
Exceptional profits 2 5.9 - -
------------ ------------ -----------
Profit on ordinary activities before interest and
taxation 32.6 17.0 42.6
Net interest receivable/(payable) - Group 0.5 0.2 (0.2)
Net interest payable - joint ventures (1.6) (1.0) (1.8)
------------- ------------ -----------
Profit on ordinary activities before taxation 1 31.5 16.2 40.6
Taxation on profit before exceptional items (7.9) (4.8) (12.0)
Taxation on exceptional items 2 (4.3) - -
3 (12.2) (4.8) (12.0)
----------- ----------- -----------
Profit for the period 19.3 11.4 28.6
Dividends 4 (2.5) (2.2) (6.8)
------------- ------------ -----------
Retained profit for the Group and its share
of joint ventures 16.8 9.2 21.8
------------- ------------ -----------
Earnings per Ordinary Share
- basic 5 54.7p 32.6p 81.5p
- diluted 54.4p 32.4p 80.8p
------------- ------------ -----------
Adjusted Earnings per Ordinary Share (excluding
exceptional items and goodwill amortisation)
- basic 5
53.0p 35.4p 87.2p
- diluted
52.7p 35.2p 86.4p
------------- ------------ -----------
Dividend per Ordinary Share 4 7.0p 6.0p 19.0p
------------- ------------ -----------
Group operating profit - includes a charge of £1.3m for the amortisation of
goodwill (June 2004: £2.6m, December 2003: £1.3m).
Kier Group plc
Consolidated Balance Sheet
Unaudited Unaudited
31 December 31 December 30 June
2004 2003 2004
Notes £m £m £m
Fixed assets
Intangible assets - goodwill 17.3 19.9 18.6
Tangible assets 69.8 60.1 68.9
Investments in joint ventures
Share of gross assets 191.5 160.6 194.8
Share of gross liabilities (195.6) (156.7) (190.7)
Loans provided to joint ventures 26.8 28.0 28.1
----------- ------------ -----------
22.7 31.9 32.2
------------ ------------ -----------
109.8 111.9 119.7
------------ ------------ -----------
Current assets
Stock 303.1 269.0 328.6
Debtors 198.8 216.2 231.2
Cash at bank and in hand 100.3 56.8 41.4
------------ ------------ -----------
602.2 542.0 601.2
------------ ------------ -----------
Current liabilities
Creditors - amounts falling due within one year (506.2) (476.5) (530.7)
------------ ------------ ----------
Net current assets 96.0 65.5 70.5
Total assets less current liabilities 205.8 177.4 190.2
Creditors - amounts falling due after more
than one year (53.7) (60.1) (58.5)
Provisions for liabilities and charges (18.9) (13.7) (15.3)
------------ ------------ -----------
Net assets 133.2 103.6 116.4
------------ ------------ -----------
Capital and reserves
Called up share capital 0.4 0.3 0.4
Share premium account 17.5 17.0 17.1
Capital redemption reserve 2.7 2.7 2.7
Share scheme reserve (0.5) (0.5) (0.4)
Profit and loss account 113.1 84.1 96.6
------------ ------------ -----------
Equity shareholders' funds 6 133.2 103.6 116.4
------------ ------------ -----------
The balance sheet at 31 December 2003 has been restated in accordance with UITF
17 (Revised 2003) and UITF 38 which require investment in own shares and the
provision for share based payments to be shown as a deduction from shareholders'
funds.
Kier Group plc
Consolidated Cash Flow Statement
Unaudited Unaudited
6 months to 6 months to Year to
31 December 31 December 30 June
2004 2003 2004
£m £m £m
Operating activities
Operating profit 23.9 14.7 39.4
Amortisation of goodwill 1.3 1.3 2.6
Profit on sale of fixed assets (0.2) - (1.3)
Depreciation charges 6.4 3.8 8.1
Decrease/(increase) in working capital 30.9 (37.5) (52.5)
------------ ------------ ------------
Net cash inflow/(outflow) from operating activities 62.3 (17.7) (3.7)
Dividends received from joint ventures 0.4 0.3 0.3
Returns on investments and servicing of finance 1.4 0.8 0.6
Tax paid (5.1) (5.3) (11.5)
Net capital expenditure and financial investment (3.4) (10.9) (18.7)
Disposals, investments and acquisitions 11.6 (0.4) (17.2)
Equity dividends paid (4.3) (3.5) (5.5)
------------ ------------ ------------
Cash inflow/(outflow) before management of liquid resources
and financing 62.9 (36.7) (55.7)
Management of liquid resources
Net decrease in short-term bank deposits 12.6 23.9 20.7
Financing
Share capital (0.3) 1.4 1.3
------------ ------------ ------------
Increase/(decrease) in cash during the period 75.2 (11.4) (33.7)
------------ ------------ ------------
Reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net funds
Increase/(decrease) in cash during the period 75.2 (11.4) (33.7)
Cash outflow from management of liquid resources (12.6) (23.9) (20.7)
------------ ------------ ------------
Movement in net funds in the period
62.6 (35.3) (54.4)
------------ ------------ ------------
Opening cash, net of debt 7.6 62.0 62.0
------------ ------------ ------------
Closing cash, net of debt 70.2 26.7 7.6
------------ ------------ ------------
Analysis of closing cash, net of debt
Cash at bank and in hand 82.6 29.7 11.1
Bank overdrafts - - (3.7)
Short-term bank deposits 17.7 27.1 30.3
Long-term borrowings (30.1) (30.1) (30.1)
------------ ------------ ------------
70.2 26.7 7.6
------------ ------------ ------------
Notes
1 Segmental information Unaudited Unaudited
31 December 31 December 30 June
2004 2003 2004
£m £m £m
Turnover
Construction 530.1 505.5 1,007.3
Support Services 108.3 97.1 197.7
Homes 134.5 103.9 215.7
Property 37.7 15.7 46.6
Infrastructure Investment 5.5 4.4 9.2
------------ ------------ -----------
816.1 726.6 1,476.5
------------ ------------ -----------
Operating profit
Construction 6.5 4.0 10.9
Support Services 1.2 1.1 2.7
Homes 19.2 12.9 31.8
Property 4.6 4.1 6.6
Infrastructure Investment (0.4) (1.3) (1.9)
Corporate overhead/finance (4.4) (3.8) (7.5)
------------ ------------ -----------
26.7 17.0 42.6
------------ ------------ -----------
Profit before tax
Construction 11.5 8.2 19.0
Support Services 0.9 0.9 2.2
Homes 15.0 9.6 24.5
Property 3.5 3.6 5.0
Infrastructure Investment 1.7 (1.2) (1.3)
Corporate overhead/finance (1.1) (4.9) (8.8)
------------ ------------ -----------
31.5 16.2 40.6
------------ ------------ -----------
Net operating assets
Construction (161.4) (127.0) (132.6)
Support Services 4.7 13.0 10.6
Homes 219.4 181.7 201.3
Property 14.3 4.1 24.8
Infrastructure Investment (6.4) 12.3 9.0
Corporate overhead/finance (7.6) (7.2) (4.3)
------------ ------------ -----------
63.0 76.9 108.8
------------ ------------ -----------
Net operating assets at 31 December 2003 have been restated in accordance with
UITF 17 (Revised 2003) and UITF 38.
Operating profit and profit before tax for Support Services and Corporate
Overhead/Finance have been adjusted to reallocate costs of bidding for Support
Services contracts from Corporate Overhead/Finance to Support Services. The
adjustment is £0.8m in the six months to 31 December 2003 and £2.0m in the year
to 30 June 2004.
Profit before tax for the six months to 31 December 2004 includes: an
exceptional profit of £2.1m relating to the sale of an investment in a PFI joint
venture in Infrastructure Investment; and an exceptional profit of £3.8m
relating to the sale of a fixed asset property in Corporate Overhead/Finance.
Notes continued
2 Exceptional profits
Exceptional profits for the six months to 31 December 2004 arise from the following:
Profit Net profit/
before tax Tax (loss)
£m £m £m
Disposal of land and buildings 3.8 (1.2) 2.6
Disposal of investment in a PFI joint venture 2.1 (0.6) 1.5
Refinancing of a PFI joint venture - (2.5) (2.5)
---------- ---------- ---------
5.9 (4.3) 1.6
---------- ---------- ---------
3 Taxation
The taxation charge on exceptional items has been separately identified.
The corporation tax rate of 31.0% (June 2004: 29.5%, December 2003: 29.5%)
applied to profit before exceptional items is based on the estimated effective
percentage tax rate for the full year. The tax charge is calculated in
accordance with FRS 19.
4 Dividends per Ordinary Share
The interim dividend of 7.0p (December 2003: 6.0p) per ordinary share will be
paid on 19 May 2005 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on
1 April 2005. A scrip dividend alternative will be offered.
5 Earnings per Ordinary Share
Earnings per share is calculated as follows:
Unaudited Unaudited
31 December 31 December 30 June
2004 2003 2004
£m £m £m
Profit after tax 19.3 11.4 28.6
Less: Exceptional items (5.9) - -
Add: Tax on exceptional items 4.3 - -
---------- ---------- ----------
Profit after tax before exceptional items 17.7 11.4 28.6
Add: Goodwill amortisation 1.3 1.3 2.6
Less: Tax on goodwill amortisation (0.3) (0.3) (0.6)
---------- ---------- ----------
Adjusted profit after tax 18.7 12.4 30.6
---------- ---------- ----------
Million Million Million
Weighted average number of shares used for EPS
Basic 35.3 35.0 35.1
---------- ---------- ----------
Diluted 35.5 35.2 35.4
---------- ---------- ----------
5 Earnings per Ordinary Shares (continued)
Pence Pence Pence
Earnings per share
Basic 54.7 32.6 81.5
Diluted 54.4 32.4 80.8
---------- ---------- ----------
Adjusted earnings per share after excluding exceptional items
Basic 50.1 32.6 81.5
Diluted 49.9 32.4 80.8
---------- ---------- ----------
Adjusted earnings per share after excluding exceptional
items and goodwill amortisation
Basic 53.0 35.4 87.2
Diluted 52.7 35.2 86.4
---------- ---------- ----------
The diluted earnings per share takes account of the dilutive effect of options
and is calculated in accordance with FRS 14.
6 Reconciliation of movements in shareholders' funds
£m
Shareholders' funds at 30 June 2004 116.4
Retained profit for period 16.8
Issue of shares 0.4
Movement in share scheme reserve (0.1)
Currency translation (0.3)
------------
Shareholders' funds at 31 December 2004 133.2
------------
7 Status
The interim results do not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of
section 240 of the Companies Act 1985.
The abridged consolidated profit and loss account for the year to 30 June 2004
and the abridged consolidated balance sheet at 30 June 2004 have been extracted
from the latest published accounts of Kier Group plc on which the report of the
auditors was unqualified and which have been delivered to the Registrar of
Companies.
Copies of this interim statement will be sent to shareholders and are available
for inspection at the Company's registered office. It will also be available on
the Company's website at www.kier.co.uk.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange