AGM Statement
Capita Group PLC
18 April 2001
18 April 2001
THE CAPITA GROUP PLC 2001 AGM STATEMENT
The Capita Group Plc ('Capita'), the leading UK professional support services
company, held its Annual General Meeting in London today. At the meeting Rod
Aldridge, Executive Chairman of Capita, commented:
Results for 2000
'Results for the year ended 31st December 2000 show that the Group has enjoyed
another record year. Turnover increased by 39% to £453 million and net profit
before taxation and amortisation of goodwill increased by 41% to £51.2
million. Earnings per share before amortising goodwill advanced by 38% to
5.60p. Operating margins widened from 10.9% to 12% and the Group generated
positive operating cashflow of £68.9 million during the period. In its 12
years as a public company, Capita has grown turnover at an annual compound
rate of 47% and net profit before tax at 42%.
Current trading
The Board is delighted by current trading and at the end of the first quarter
the Group is significantly ahead of the corresponding period in 2000. We are
also encouraged by the level of major sales wins and the growth being achieved
across the business.
Major contracts
Our major contract wins continue to be strong. In addition to the £700
million of new contracts secured in 2000, we announced in January the signing
of a 10-year contract with Abbey National Plc worth £323 million to develop,
manage and administer the systems development and core processing activities
of its general insurance business. This contract started on 1st March and
more than 500 employees have now transferred to Capita.
On 23rd March, we announced the conclusion of our discussions with Blackburn
with Darwen Borough Council. When we confirmed our preferred bidder status in
November 2000, it was expected that the initial partnership scope was worth £
80 million over 10 years, but through our subsequent discussions with the
authority, both the scope and the term of the contract have been extended.
The contract is now worth £190 million over 15 years. We believe this to be
the longest contract yet agreed across the local government market. The
strategic partnership will deliver services including digital technology,
human resources, financial services, revenues and benefits, property and
administrative support for services including Education and Social Services.
Today I am pleased to announce further successes worth approximately £62
million. We have agreed an extension to our contract with NAAFI to provide
financial and accounting services for a term of up to five years, a five year
partnership with BAA as sole provider of all BAA's IT resourcing requirements
and a partnership with the London Borough of Haringey to provide strategic
education management services and support.
Accordingly, our major new contract wins in the current year are some £500
million and over the past 15 months the Group has won major contracts worth
some £1.2 billion. We continue to have an excellent bid list and I expect to
be in a position to make further announcements before the half year results.
Organic growth
The organic growth across our businesses continues to be strong. We have set
ourselves demanding internal growth targets for both business from existing
and new clients and we are comfortably exceeding these in the first three
months of 2001. The decision to increase our business development resources
within the business during last year has proved to be timely.
Progress with acquisitions
The major acquisitions we made in 2000, Capita IRG and Capita Eastgate, are
both performing strongly. These companies are providing a major springboard
for the Group's services into the private sector. Indeed, BAA with whom we
have announced a major contract today, is one of Capita IRG's largest clients.
30 clients of Capita IRG are now customers of other Capita services,
particularly within the HR area, including the provision of payroll and
pension administration services.
Our markets
Activity across both the public and private sectors is high. In the public
sector, including local authorities, central government and the education
sector, the requirement for our wide range of services and capabilities
remains considerable. In the case of the private sector, particularly within
financial services and insurance, the increasing pressures on these
organisations to reduce cost and to improve services means that there are now
excellent opportunities for the outsourcing of the services that we provide.
The Group's position in these markets as a leader and shaper of opportunities
means that we are well positioned to benefit from the enormous changes taking
place in the way that services are now being delivered. We estimate that our
target public and private sector markets are potentially worth £30 billion per
annum in the UK and the greatest competition continues to be the in-house
option.
Prospects
I am positive about the outlook for the year as a whole and am confident that
shareholders will be pleased with our performance for the year. The high
forward visibility of our earnings means that just 16 weeks into the new year,
we already anticipate revenue growth of 43% for the full year. This position
and the new opportunities that are emerging for the Group give us considerable
confidence that we are well positioned to continue our growth into the future.'
- ends -
For further information, please contact:
The Capita Group Plc 020 7799 1525
Rod Aldridge, Executive Chairman
Shona Nichols, Group Marketing Director
Hogarth Partnership Limited 020 7357 9477
John Olsen / James Longfield
Notes for Editor:
The Capita Group Plc
The Capita Group Plc is one of the largest and fastest growing professional
support services organisations in the UK. Capita provides an integrated range
of professional support services on long-term contracts across the private
sector, local and central government and education in the UK. With over 9,000
people working across a network of over 100 sites, generating a turnover in
excess of £450m, our achievements promoted us to the FTSE 100 in 2000.
We draw on our wide base of skills and sector expertise to generate and
successfully implement tailored service solutions. Capita's capability spans
leading edge customer and administration services, HR services, IT and
strategic support, software and property consultancy.