AGM Statement

RNS Number : 0462B

Driver Group plc

27 February 2014

 

27 February 2014

Driver Group plc

("Driver" or the "Company")

AGM STATEMENT     

Driver, the global consultancy to the construction and engineering industries, is holding its Annual General Meeting later today. At the meeting Non-Executive Chairman Alan McClue will make the following statement:

"At the time of the announcement of Driver's Preliminary Results I stated that this coming year would be one in which we would benefit from the investment made in 2013, particularly in Asia Pacific, and that opportunities to further expand in the Middle East were likely to present themselves."

I am pleased to report that Asia Pacific is benefitting from the above mentioned investment, with revenues and results currently better than expected. Following the investment we have made in this region, we are delighted by its performance to date and remain cautiously optimistic about its outlook. The Middle East continues to perform well, with the momentum seen over the last 18 months continuing into the current year. In this region, we have focused on identifying further expansion opportunities and see good potential for these to develop during the remainder of the year.

Our European business continues to perform across all our service offerings as expected and during the period we have invested in a strategy to offer a project controls and cost management system via our Project Services business.

Africa and America have had a slow start to the year. In Africa, we have been impacted by the suspension at the start of the year, by the South African Government, of the three hospital PPP projects. In addition, the current exchange rate of the Rand to Sterling is having an impact on margins. In America, we are seeing that our relationships in the Oil & Gas sector are helping us win business across our global regions. However, within America workloads remain subdued, and whilst this will impact H1 performance, actions are in place to bring the cost base of the business in line with revised revenue estimates and protect current year end profit expectations for the Region.

In summary, the Group overall continues to perform in line with management expectations due to the encouraging performance of our largest regions in Europe and the Middle East, and growth being experienced in Asia Pacific which together represent over 90% of our business.  This gives me continued confidence in the remainder of the year."

Enquiries:

Driver Group plc
David Webster, Chief Executive	Tel: [phone]
Damien McDonald, Group Finance Director
Alan McClue, Non-Executive Chairman	Tel: [phone]
Charles Stanley Securities Nominated Adviser & Broker
Marc Milmo / Carl Holmes	Tel: [phone]

 

END

 

 

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