Final Results

Mears Group PLC
02 March 2007


MEARS GROUP PLC
PRELIMINARY ANNOUNCEMENT
YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2006


Mears Group PLC is once again pleased to announce record results for the year
ended 31 December 2006. The Company has today separately announced the
recommended offer for Careforce Group plc.


The highlights for the year include:

   • Turnover (including an increase in social housing turnover of 27.7%)
    £241.4m (2005: £203.5m), up 18.6%

   • Profit before tax pre amortisation £12.5m (2005: £9.8m), up 28.4%

   • Diluted EPS - normalised for full tax pre amortisation 13.63p (2005:
    10.80p), up 26.2%

   • Dividend per share 3.3p (2005: 2.6p), up 26.9%

   • Net cash inflow £5.0 million (2005: £4.1m)

   • Operating cash flow conversion 101.5% (2005: 109.2%)

   • Margins increased across all business segments


Bob Holt, Chairman, said:

'I am delighted to announce another year of strong growth in profitability and
turnover, our eleventh consecutive year of record profits. The recommended offer
for Careforce Group plc which we have announced today is an expansion of our
public sector services into the community domiciliary care provision market.
There are enormous opportunities ahead for both our existing business and the
sector we are moving into. I am confident that these combined factors will take
the Group to new levels in 2007 and beyond.'


For further information contact


Bob Holt
07778 798816

David Robertson
07887 705357


A presentation for analysts will be held at 10.30 a.m. today at the offices of
Investec, 2 Gresham Street, London, EC2V 7QP.


Chairman's Statement


I am delighted to announce another year of strong growth in profitability and
turnover, our eleventh consecutive year of record profits. The proposed
acquisition of Careforce Group plc is an expansion of our public sector services
into the community domiciliary care provision market. Your Board believes that
there is potential to develop the sophistication of the domiciliary care market
which has parallels with the way in which Mears has driven the development of
the social housing market during the last ten years.


Mears was listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock
Exchange (AIM) in October 1996. We had 83 employees and turnover of £12 million.
Since then we have achieved an average annual compound growth rate in profits of
40%.


Throughout 2006 we have continued to build long term partnership relationships
with our customers and are delighted to welcome new customers and new employees
into the Group. We are positioned for another stage of our development with a
focused management team targeting two growing public sector markets.


We've continued our strong growth this year. In line with current market
expectations, turnover was up 18.6%, operating profit before share based
payments and amortisation was up 26.8% and the dividend is up 26.9% compared to
the previous year. We now employ 2,500 people and we have an order book in
excess of £1 billion. It is another very strong, very consistent set of results
that are a credit to our employees.


Consistent qualities

We have been through enormous changes since being listed all those years ago but
the same four qualities have remained:

   • We are not afraid of hard work.
   • We have an open and honest approach to partnership - with clients, with
    tenants, with suppliers and with advisers.
   • We have strong financial management across the entire business.
   • We know how to work together effectively.


We have experienced increased competition and despite that we have kept our
order book above the £1 billion level which reflects well upon our development
team and their insistence upon only bidding on those contracts where our
partnership ethos will be valued. We will not compete solely on a price model in
our chosen markets. I believe it is the quality of those orders that is most
significant. These are long-term relationships with clients based on the right
key performance indicators. We have never taken on short-term contracts simply
to create more flattering figures. We are building a robust business, a business
based on real partnerships, aimed at creating value for money and improving the
lives of tenants.


People our primary asset

We have continued to recruit from the strong talent available nationally whilst
retaining the large majority of our senior team. One of the true measures, in my
opinion, of being an employer of choice is that the majority of the senior team
at Mears have been with the Group for a period of in excess of 6 years. Our
retention of key employees has been successful and we adopt the same partnership
approach to our employees. A recent employee survey indicated that the Group is
still very much a fun place to work in.

At the end of January 2007 we announced the resignation of Stuart Black. I took
on the role of Chief Executive Officer in addition to my existing role as
Executive Chairman of the Group and have reduced my outside commitments in order
to devote more time to the Group. At the same time we appointed David Miles to
the Group Board as Managing Director of Mears Social Housing to bring added
depth and insight at the operational level.

I do believe that the strong management teams we have built throughout Mears
will demonstrate our resilience to these changes at Group level and I am
personally committed to provide those teams with all the resources they require
to ensure they take the Group to the next stage of growth.


Improving communities is part of our DNA

Our Communities Affairs programme as part of our corporate social responsibility
remit is not just a set of policies it is at the heart of this Group. I believe
our work should help to improve daily life for people. I say our job is to make
tenants smile. Our proposed acquisition of Careforce Group plc brings us ever
closer to the community and delivers on our strategy to become the leading
provider of outsourced services in the community.


Many of our employees come from the communities they serve and through
apprenticeship schemes we are helping to increase employment and opportunity in
deprived areas. We are planning to make our workforce even more reflective of
our communities.


Our community work has a real effect on people's lives. Throughout the year we
have been involved in over 220 community based initiatives which provided a real
and tangible benefit to those communities. Our community affairs team voted, as
our outstanding initiative, our work at the Russell Gardens sheltered housing
development in Stockport. A fantastic demonstration of a local community working
with us to create a 'better life'. Simon Howard from our Broadstairs office was
voted Mears Customer Services Champion for services provided above and beyond
our measure of service. He was awarded his prize at our annual conference in
January 2007, I commend him to you.


A strong position in great markets

I see excellent prospects in social housing. We continue to see a trend for
larger, longer-term contracts and that plays to our strengths as a leader in
that market. We can still maximise our advantages in terms of quality of
service, scale, innovation and our proven commitment to working in partnership.


I see no signs that change in the political climate will affect the social
housing market significantly. The Decent Homes initiative was scheduled to end
in 2010 - though we expect that to stretch to 2015. We are a leader in the
strong repairs and maintenance market and see little difficulty in continuing to
build our business as Decent Homes comes to an end to be replaced by capital
works programmes.


The UK care market, of which domiciliary care represents a significant part, has
grown strongly as a result of an increased trend for outsourcing to private
sector providers.

The demographics of the UK show that those aged 85 plus are in the fastest
growing age group. Government commitments that care should, where possible, be
carried out in the home suggest that care provides a further opportunity for
long term growth.


Looking ahead

I would like to thank everyone at Mears for their commitment and hard work in
2006. My firm expectation for 2007 is that the excellent team here will raise
their game once again. I want everyone within this Group to get the most from
the career opportunities they have and to be ambitious for themselves and the
business.


There are enormous opportunities ahead for both our existing business and for
the sector we are moving into through the proposed acquisition of Careforce
Group plc. I remain absolutely committed to this Group and I am confident that
these combined factors will take the Group to new levels in 2007 and beyond.


Bob Holt
[e-mail]
Chairman
2 March 2007

Operating and Financial Review


Turnover

In the year to 31 December 2006 we grew turnover to £241.4m (2005: £203.5m), an
increase of 18.6%. Within this overall figure social housing turnover was up
27.7%, reflecting a strong performance in winning new business.


Operating result

We achieved an operating result before share based payments and amortisation of
£13.0m (2005: £10.3m), a 26.8% increase. The Group managed to increase its
operating margin from 5.1% in 2005 to 5.4% in 2006 despite the rapid increase in
turnover and we continue to invest in our infrastructure ahead of the projected
organic growth. We have had a significant overhaul of our information technology
platform which has helped to enhance further the financial control throughout
the business. We have also retained more work on decent homes in-house, where
Haydon, our mechanical & electrical division, has performed heating works at a
number of branches.


Amortisation

A charge of £0.3m arose in 2006. This represents the write down of the
identified intangible assets acquired on the acquisition of Laidlaw Scott
Limited in June 2006. The excess of purchase price over the fair value of net
assets is capitalised as goodwill and under IFRS is not amortised but will be
subject to an annual impairment review.


Share based payments

The share based payment charge in 2006 was £0.5m, unchanged from 2005. There is
no cash impact from this new expense which arose from the adoption of
International Financial Reporting Standards in 2005.


Finance

The Group again maintained its broadly neutral cash position throughout the 12
months to 31 December 2006 and achieved a net interest receipt of £0.01m (2005:
payment £0.02m). The Group's focus on tight working capital control remains a
cornerstone of our offering given the tremendous scale of growth being
generated.


Tax expense

£2.1m has been provided for a tax charge (2005: £2.5m). The effective rate in
2006 of 17.0% (2005: 27.4%) is low due to the impact of a corporation tax
deduction received on the exercise of share options.


Earnings per share (EPS)

Basic EPS increased 37.5% to 17.05p (2005: 12.40p). Our diluted EPS of 15.99p
was up 39.7% on the comparative 2005 figure of 11.45p. All figures are stated
after the impact of share based payments. If a full tax rate of 30% is applied
to the pre amortisation result the diluted EPS for 2006 rises to 13.63p (2005:
10.80p), a 26.2% uplift.


Dividend

The dividend increase is in line with our earnings growth. A final dividend of
2.4p per share is proposed which combined with the 0.9p interim dividend gives a
total dividend of 3.3p per share (2005: 2.6p). In accordance with IFRS, the
final dividend has not been recognised within the preliminary announcement as it
did not represent an obligation at the balance sheet date.

The dividend is payable on 2 July 2007 to shareholders on the register on 15
June 2007.


Cash flow

The cash flow position continues to underline our strength as a business. A net
cash inflow of £5.0m was achieved in 2006 (2005: £4.1m inflow). The Group
converted 101.5% of operating profit into operating cash flow (2005: 109.2%).
Some £2.2m was used to acquire the business of Laidlaw Scott Limited and £1.4m
was absorbed on the settlement of deferred consideration on previous
acquisitions. A further £1.6m was invested in new technology and operational
bases. The Group benefited from the exercise of options in 2006 by some £1.6m.
Our net cash position at 31 December 2006 was £11.9m, up from £6.9m at the start
of the year.


Acquisition

The acquisition of the entire share capital of Laidlaw Scott Limited was settled
with an initial payment of £2.2m (including costs) for net assets of £0.2m plus
an additional payment of up to £2.8m subject to future performance to 31
December 2007. The business was substantially debt free and generated a profit
before tax of £0.4m on a turnover of £6.0m in the year to 31 August 2005. Post
acquisition Laidlaw Scott returned a pre tax result of £0.3m on turnover of
£4.2m.The business is performing in line with our expectations and as a result
of this acquisition we are now pursuing a number of tender opportunities in
Scotland.


We continue to seek out quality businesses with the potential to help us further
our strategic objectives and improve or broaden our services. While we monitor
opportunities to acquire a business in Wales, we continue to develop organic
growth opportunities in the area.




Order book

The visibility of our earnings continues to improve. £222m of new social housing
work was secured in 2006 from 15 customers. Our order book now stands at £1.1
billion (2005: £1.0 billion). The element of consensus market forecast turnover
secured for 2007 is 90%, with an additional 4% due from transactional business
and also 69% of the 2008 consensus market forecast, with an additional 15% due
from transactional business. We continue to place great emphasis on winning good
quality contracts that can provide clear and sustainable margins. We also hold a
healthy mix of Decent Homes and repairs and maintenance work, giving us a
balanced position in the social housing market that is not reliant on clients'
future discretionary spending.


Total equity

Total shareholders' equity value rose by £9.9m in 2006 from £28.1m to £38.0m at
31 December 2006.


Key Developments and Achievements


Mobilised contracts

Over the last twelve months the following key contracts have come on-stream.
These are:

   • London Borough of Greenwich, five-year Decent Homes contract.
   • Portsmouth City Council, three-year repair and maintenance contract.
   • Kensington Housing Trust, five-year repair and void maintenance
    contract.
   • London Borough of Kingston upon Thames, seven-year repair and void
    maintenance contract.
   • Maidstone Housing Trust - A five-year repair and maintenance
    contract.
   • Nottingham City Homes, five-year Decent Homes contract.
   • GM Procure - We have been appointed as a primary contractor partner with
    GM Procure to deliver Decent Homes services to authorities in the North West
    . Again we believe our existing contract with Stockport Metropolitan Borough
    Council has been instrumental in securing this work.
   • Cross Keys Homes in Peterborough - We have secured a contract with an
    existing customer to provide the cyclical decorating for a period of seven
    years.


Major contract wins

In addition to the mobilised contracts we have also achieved a number of major
successes, winning social housing contracts valued at £222m in total over the
last year. Highlights included:

   • Ealing Homes - The addition of a new Decent Homes contract to add to our
    existing repairs and maintenance contract. We are one of the client's core
    partners and believe we are in a strong position to gain a significant
    share. Our client has already secured funding of £205m with potential for
    further additional funding.
   • Orbit Homes - A five-year repair and maintenance contract.
   • Twynham Housing Association in Dorset and Hampshire - A two-year repair
    and void maintenance contract.
   • Town and Country Housing Association in Kent and Sussex - We have
    secured a new five-year Decent Homes contract.
   • Cross Keys Homes in Peterborough - We have secured a contract with an
    existing customer to provide the gas maintenance for a period of five years.
   • Brighton and Hove City Council - A five-year repair and void
    maintenance contract.
   • Shoreline Housing Association - a four-year gas maintenance contract.
   • Watford Council - a three-year gas maintenance contract.


Awards

We are delighted that during the year we have received several awards
recognising our commitment to customers, staff and investors:


   • Mears was awarded TPAS (Tenant Participation Advisory Service) Quality
    Standard Mark, which assesses the quality of resident involvement with
    contractors, tenants and landlords. This is the first time TPAS has awarded
    its quality mark to a supplier or contractor.
   • We were awarded 'Partnering Contractor of the Year' at the UK Housing
    Excellence Awards.
   • Mears and Richmond Housing Partnership won the 'Making Partnerships
    Work' award at the London Excellence Awards.
   • The Group achieved Age Positive Employer Champion status from the
    Department of Work and Pensions.
   • Mears was awarded Occupational Health and Safety Gold Award from RoSPA.
   • At the South West Financial and Corporate Communications Awards we were
    successful in the following categories:
   • 'Company of the Year'
   • 'Best Commitment to Environmental and Social Responsibility'
   • 'Best Communicators of the Year'


We believe we are well placed to continue delivering on 'improving homes,
improving neighbourhoods, improving lives'.



Training and development of staff

We are an established Investor in People and we are meeting the challenge of the
skills shortage in our sector through a comprehensive national programme of
employee development, together with structured work experience and training
programmes for existing and prospective employees.


This year we have been taking our trade professionals through a skills-based NVQ
programme and we have developed a unique Mears Professional Development Customer
and Community Care NVQ to further raise our customer service standards


Operational expertise.


The Mears Way committee is headed by senior management from within the Group and
is responsible for developing and documenting best practice and ensuring that we
use the benefits of scale without losing local focus. This includes our approach
to the procurement of materials through to the delivery of customer service. The
main focus in 2006 was best practice customer care. The fact that we are now
achieving record levels of customer satisfaction across our business is a
testament to that group's success.

The overhaul of our core operational system, MCM, has given we believe the best
system of its kind in the market. It has modules both for response repairs and
for decent homes work. We are expanding the use of hand held technology across
an increasing number of contracts and our new management KPI dashboard, enables
real time analysis of performance across all branches.


Customer and Community care


With 40% of our staff participating in community improvement projects, Mears now
has one of the highest levels of volunteering of any company of its size in the
UK. Over 12,000 hours of community work was undertaken with 220 projects
supported, double that of the levels in 2005.

It is by building strong community links that Mears improves its overall service
levels, gets to understand customer needs better and brings all staff into
direct contact with the community they are serving.

The CSR section of this annual report provides more detail around our work but
given the Government strategic shift from Decent Homes alone, to one of
developing Sustainable Communities, Mears is very well placed to benefit from
this change.


Outlook


Our order book is at record levels with a very healthy new business pipeline.

Government policy, which both embraces investment in communities and ongoing
public private sector partnership, continues to generate new opportunities.

Our investment in people, IT and operational best practice ensures we have the
capability to make the most of the growth opportunity.


Bob Holt, Chief Executive
[e-mail]

David Robertson, Finance Director
[e-mail]


2 March 2007

Consolidated income statement

For the year ended 31 December 2006


-----------------------          -----   -------    -------   -------   --------
                                          2006       2006      2005       2005
                                  Note   £'000      £'000     £'000      £'000
-----------------------          -----   -------    -------   -------   --------
Sales revenue                      2              241,414              203,543
Cost of sales                                    (174,399)            (144,954)
-----------------------          -----   -------    -------   -------   --------
Gross profit                                       67,015               58,589
Other administrative expenses          (53,970)             (48,302)
-----------------------          -----   -------    -------   -------   --------
Operating result before share
based                              2    13,045               10,287
payments and intangible          -----   -------    -------   -------   --------
amortisation
-----------------------
Intangible amortisation                   (255)                   -
Share based payments                      (535)                (515)
-----------------------          -----   -------    -------   -------   --------
Total administrative costs                        (54,760)             (48,817)
-----------------------          -----   -------    -------   -------   --------
Operating result                                   12,255                9,772
Finance income                                        130                   70
Finance costs                                        (118)                 (92)
-----------------------          -----   -------    -------   -------   --------
Result for the year before tax                     12,267                9,750
Tax expense                        3               (2,068)              (2,540)
-----------------------          -----   -------    -------   -------   --------
Net result for the year                            10,199                7,210
-----------------------          -----   -------    -------   -------   --------

Earnings per share
Basic                              5                17.05p               12.40p
Diluted                            5                15.99p               11.45p
-----------------------          -----   -------    -------   -------   --------


All activities are continuing.




Consolidated balance sheet

At 31 December 2006

----------------------------------                             -------  --------
                                                                2006      2005
                                                               £'000     £'000
----------------------------------                             -------  --------
Assets
Non-current
Goodwill                                                      13,811    10,647
Intangible assets                                              1,029         -
Property, plant and equipment                                  5,716     5,827
Deferred tax asset                                             3,000     3,500
----------------------------------                             -------  --------
                                                              23,556    19,974
----------------------------------                             -------  --------
Current
Inventories                                                    9,104     5,363
Trade and other receivables                                   40,334    31,852
Cash at bank and in hand                                      12,127     9,774
----------------------------------                             -------  --------
                                                              61,565    46,989
----------------------------------                             -------  -------- 
Total assets                                                  85,121    66,963
----------------------------------                             -------  --------

Equity
Equity attributable to the shareholders of Mears Group PLC
Called up share capital                                          615       588
Share premium account                                          5,547     3,960
Share based payment reserve                                    1,485     1,040
Retained earnings                                             30,363    22,466
----------------------------------                             -------  --------
Total equity                                                  38,010    28,054
----------------------------------                             -------  --------

Liabilities
Non-current
Other liabilities                                              2,876       855
----------------------------------                             -------  --------
                                                               2,876       855
----------------------------------                             -------  --------
Current
Short term borrowings and overdrafts                             228     2,832
Trade and other payables                                      42,186    33,215
Current tax liabilities                                        1,438     1,764
Pension and other employee benefits                              383       243
----------------------------------                             -------  --------
Current liabilities                                           44,235    38,054
----------------------------------                             -------  --------
Total liabilities                                             47,111    38,909
----------------------------------                             -------  --------
Total equity and liabilities                                  85,121    66,963
----------------------------------                             -------  --------







Consolidated statement of recognised income and expense

For the year ended 31 December 2006

---------------------------------                           --------    --------
                                                              2006        2005
                                                             £'000       £'000
---------------------------------                           --------    --------
Actuarial losses on defined benefit pension scheme             (77)       (101)
(Decrease) Increase in deferred tax asset                     (550)      1,270
---------------------------------                           --------    --------
Net income recognised directly to equity                      (627)      1,169
Profit for the financial period                             10,199       7,210
---------------------------------                           --------    --------
Total recognised income and expense for the period           9,572       8,379
---------------------------------                           --------    --------









Consolidated cash flow statement

For the year ended 31 December 2006




------------------------------                       -------  --------  --------
                                                                2006      2005
                                                        Note   £'000     £'000
------------------------------                       -------  --------  --------
Operating activities
Result for the year before tax                                12,267     9,750
Adjustments                                              6     2,312     1,974
Change in inventories                                         (3,468)     (735)
Change in operating receivables                               (7,697)   (1,442)
Change in operating payables                                   9,023     1,120
------------------------------                       -------  --------  --------
Cash inflow from operating activities before taxes            12,437    10,667
paid
Taxes paid                                                    (2,394)   (2,271)
------------------------------                       -------  --------  --------
                                                              10,043     8,396
------------------------------                       -------  --------  --------
Investing activities
Additions to property, plant and equipment                    (1,593)   (3,125)
Proceeds from disposals of property, plant and                   146       330
equipment
Acquisition of subsidiary undertaking, net of cash            (3,543)     (755)
Interest received                                                136        67
------------------------------                       -------  --------  --------
                                                              (4,854)   (3,483)
------------------------------                       -------  --------  --------
Financing activities
Proceeds from share issue                                      1,614       607
Discharge of finance lease liability                             (46)      (75)
Interest paid                                                   (124)      (96)
Dividends paid                                                (1,676)   (1,225)
------------------------------                       -------  --------  --------
                                                                (232)     (789)
------------------------------                       -------  --------  --------
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year                   6,942     2,818
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents                      4,957     4,124
------------------------------                       -------  --------  --------
Cash and cash equivalents, end of year                        11,899     6,942
------------------------------                       -------  --------  --------

Cash and cash equivalents is comprised as follows:
Cash at bank and in hand                                      12,127     9,774
Short term borrowings and overdrafts                            (228)   (2,832)
------------------------------                       -------  --------  --------
Cash and cash equivalents                                     11,899     6,942
------------------------------                       -------  --------  --------








Notes to the preliminary announcement

For the year ended 31 December 2006


1. Basis of preparation

The preliminary announcement contains extracts from the full financial
statements.

The full financial statements have been prepared in accordance with
International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the European
Union and also in accordance with IFRS as issued by the International Accounting
Standards Board. The financial statements are prepared under the historical cost
convention. The accounting policies remain unchanged from the previous year.


2. Segment reporting

The Group operates three business segments: social housing, mechanical and
electrical (M&E) and vehicle distribution. All of the Group's activities are
carried out within the United Kingdom.

The table below forms an extract from that to be included in the full financial
statements.
                                                        2006                                              2005
----------          -------   ------     --------      -------         ------   ------      -------       ------
                    Social               Vehicle                      Social               Vehicle
                   housing      M&E    distribution     Total        housing      M&E    distribution    Total
                     £'000    £'000        £'000        £'000          £'000    £'000        £'000       £'000
Business                                                                  
segments            
----------          -------   ------     --------      -------         ------   ------      -------       ------
Revenue            184,017   49,069        8,328      241,414        144,086   50,820        8,637      203,543
----------          -------   ------     --------      -------         ------   ------      -------       ------
Operating
result pre
share based
payments and
amortisation        10,697    1,937          411       13,045          7,964    1,908          415       10,287
---------           -------   ------     --------      -------        -------   ------      -------      -------


3. Tax expense

The tax charge represents:
------------------------------------                          --------  --------
                                                                2006      2005
                                                               £'000     £'000
------------------------------------                          --------  --------
United Kingdom corporation tax effective rate 17.0% (27.4%)    2,118     2,670
Reversal of deferred tax timing differences                      (50)     (130)
------------------------------------                          --------  --------
Tax expense                                                    2,068     2,540
------------------------------------                          --------  --------


4. Dividends

The following dividends were declared on ordinary shares in the year:
------------------------------------                          -------  ---------
                                                               2006       2005
                                                              £'000      £'000
------------------------------------                          -------  ---------
Final 2005 dividend of 1.90p (2005: final 2004 dividend of
1.40p) per share                                              1,125        815
Interim 2006 dividend of 0.90p (2005: interim 2005 dividend
of                                                              550        410
0.70p) per share                                              -------  ---------
------------------------------------
                                                              1,675      1,225
------------------------------------                          -------  ---------

The proposed final dividend of 2.40p per share has not been included within the
preliminary announcement as no obligation existed at 31 December 2006.


5. Earnings per share

Basic earnings per share is based on equity earnings of £10.20m (2005: £7.21m)
and 59.82m (2005: 58.16m) ordinary shares at 1p each, being the average number
of shares in issue during the year.

For diluted earnings per share the average number of shares in issue is
increased to 63.79m (2005: 62.97m) to reflect the potential dilution effect of
employee share schemes.

A normalised earnings per share is disclosed in order to show performance
undistorted by amortisation of intangibles and the tax effect of share options.
The normalised earnings per share is based on equity earnings of £8.69m (2005:
£6.80m).

                                                Basic             Diluted
-----------------------------              --------   ------   ------   ------
-----------------------------              --------   ------   ------   ------
                                             2006     2005     2006     2005
                                                 p        p        p        p
-----------------------------              --------   ------   ------   ------
Earnings per share                          17.05    12.40    15.99    11.45
Effect of amortisation of intangibles of
£0.26m (2005: £-)                            0.35        -     0.33        -
Effect of full tax adjustment of £1.77m
(2005: £0.41m)                              (2.87)   (0.70)   (2.69)   (0.65)
-----------------------------              --------   ------   ------   ------
Normalised pre amortisation earnings per
share                                       14.53    11.70    13.63    10.80
-----------------------------              --------   ------   ------   ------





6. Notes to consolidated cash flow statement

The following non operating cash flow adjustments have been made to the pre-tax
result for the year:

--------------------                          -------------------------  -------
                                                                 2006     2005
                                                                £'000    £'000
--------------------                          -------------------------  -------
Depreciation                                                    1,513    1,458
Loss/(profit) on disposal of fixed assets                          21      (21)
Amortisation                                                      255        -
Share based payments                                              535      515
Finance income                                                   (130)     (70)
Finance cost                                                      118       92
--------------------                          -------------------------  -------
                                    Total                       2,312    1,974
--------------------                          -------------------------  -------


7. Publication of Non Statutory Accounts

The financial information set out in the announcement does not constitute the
Group's statutory accounts for the years ended 31 December 2006 or 2005. The
financial information for the year ended 31 December 2005 is derived from the
statutory accounts for that year which have been delivered to the Registrar of
Companies. The auditors reported on those accounts; their report was unqualified
and did not contain a statement under s.237(2) or (3) Companies Act 1985. The
statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2006 will be finalised on the
basis of the financial information presented by the Directors in this
preliminary announcement and will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies.






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