AWE to transfer under direct management of MoD

RNS Number : 8545D

Serco Group PLC

02 November 2020

 

2 November 2020

Serco Group plc

LEI: 549300PT2CIHYN5GWJ21

Involvement of AWE Management Ltd in the Atomic Weapons Establishment to end in June 2021

Serco announces that it was informed by the Ministry of Defence on Friday night that AWE plc, the entity controlling the Atomic Weapons Establishment, will transfer back under the direct control and management of the Ministry of Defence as from 30th June 2021.  Since 2000, AWE has been managed by AWE Management Limited, in which Serco holds a minority interest of 24.5%.  The other shareholders are Lockheed Martin (51%) and Jacobs (24.5%).  Serco is proud to have been involved with AWE for the last 20 years, and will work with the other shareholders and the Ministry of Defence to ensure a smooth transition to the new arrangements.

We expect that AWE will make a contribution to both Serco's Group Underlying Trading Profit and Profit After Tax of around £17m in 2020.  Whilst our budgeting process is yet to be completed and the pandemic makes forecasting extremely difficult, assuming a smooth transition of AWE at the end of June 2021, we would expect both Group Underlying Trading Profit and Profit after Tax in 2021 to remain broadly in line with current consensus and at similar levels to our expectations for 2020, representing growth of around 35% over 2019.

This announcement contains inside information.

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For further information please contact:

Paul Checketts, Head of Investor Relations, tel: [phone] or email: [e-mail]

Marcus De Ville, Head of Media Relations, tel: [phone] or email: [e-mail]

About Serco

Serco is a leading provider of public services.  Our customers are governments or others operating in the public sector.  We gain scale, expertise and diversification by operating internationally across five sectors and four geographies: Defence, Justice & Immigration, Transport, Health and Citizen Services, delivered in UK & Europe, North America, Asia Pacific and the Middle East.  More information can be found at www.serco.com

Forward looking statements

This announcement contains statements which are, or may be deemed to be, "forward-looking statements" which are prospective in nature.  All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements.  Generally, words such as "expect", "anticipate", "may", "could", "should", "will", "aspire", "aim", "plan", "target", "goal", "ambition", "intend" and similar expressions identify forward looking-statements.  By their nature, these forward-looking statements are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and contingencies, and actual results and events could differ materially from those currently being anticipated as reflected in such statements.  Factors which may cause future outcomes to differ from those foreseen or implied in forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to: general economic conditions and business conditions in Serco's markets; contracts awarded to Serco; customers' acceptance of Serco's products and services; operational problems; the actions of competitors, trading partners, creditors, rating agencies and others; the success or otherwise of partnering; changes in laws and governmental regulations; regulatory or legal actions, including the types of enforcement action pursued and the nature of remedies sought or imposed; the receipt of relevant third party and/or regulatory approvals; exchange rate fluctuations; the development and use of new technology; changes in public expectations and other changes to business conditions; wars and acts of terrorism; cyber-attacks; and pandemics, epidemics or natural disasters.  Many of these factors are beyond Serco's control or influence.  These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this presentation and have not been audited or otherwise independently verified.  Past performance should not be taken as an indication or guarantee of future results and no representation or warranty, express or implied, is made regarding future performance.  Except as required by any applicable law or regulation, Serco expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward looking statements contained in this presentation to reflect any change in Serco's expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based after the date of this presentation, or to keep current any other information contained in this presentation.  Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements.

 

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