Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 2149K

Pennon Group PLC

17 August 2012

 

17 August 2012

PENNON GROUP PLC

INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

Overall financial performance at Pennon Group since 31 March 2012 remains in line with management expectations.

South West Water

South West Water is continuing its strong performance against the 2010-2015 regulatory contract and is well placed to outperform the assumptions contained therein.  The company is working towards the next Price Review (PR14) and is actively engaged in the development of Ofwat's regulatory reform agenda.  It has already rolled out its initial phases of customer engagement and work is under way to determine investment scenarios for the next period.

The company continues to deliver robust operational performance and high standards of customer service.

Viridor

As flagged at the Preliminary Results in May, Viridor is not immune to the difficult conditions in the world economy and trading has been significantly below the high level of last year's first half with recyclate prices remaining under pressure.

Since 1 April Viridor has continued to develop its pipeline of long-term PPP and EFW projects and has:

·     signed a 25 year contract with Glasgow City Council for the recycling and treatment of its residual waste and

·     commenced construction of a 350,000 tonne Energy from Waste plant at Trident Park near Cardiff.

In July Viridor acquired JWT Holdings Limited, a waste collection and recycling business based in Greater Manchester, for £7.6m.  The company provides excellent synergies with Viridor's existing activities in Manchester and across the North West.

Group

Since 1 April Pennon Group has:

·     renewed a £35m Revolving Credit Facility (RCF)

·     put in place £50m of new term loans and RCFs and

·     drawn a US Private Placement of $100m 10 year funding at 4.5%.

The Company intends to announce its Half Year Results for 2012/13 on Thursday 29 November 2012. 

A conference call on this announcement will be held at 11.00am on Friday 17 August 2012.  Dial in details are as follows:

Telephone number: [phone]

Password: Pennon

Further information on Pennon, South West Water and Viridor can be found on the Group's website, www.pennon-group.co.uk

Cautionary statement in respect of forward-looking statements

This Statement contains forward-looking statements relating to Pennon Group's operations, performance and financial position based on current expectations of, and assumptions and forecasts made by, Pennon Group management.  Words such as "aims", "anticipates", "believes", "continue", "could", "due", "estimates", "expects", "goal", "intends", "may", "plans", "projects", "remains", "seeks", "should", "targets", "will" and related and similar expressions as well as statements in the future tense identify forward-looking statements.  By their very nature forward-looking statements are inherently unpredictable, speculative and involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will or will not occur in the future.  Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to substantial differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the Group and those expressed or implied in this statement.  These risks, uncertainties and factors include, but are not limited to, changes in the economies and markets in which Pennon Group operates; changes in the regulatory and competition frameworks in which Pennon Group operates; the impact of legal or other proceedings against or which affect Pennon Group; and changes in interest and exchange rates.  Further details of Pennon Group's principal risks and uncertainties are set out in Pennon Group's 2012 Annual Report which can be viewed online at http://www.pennonannualreport2012.co.uk/   Undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements which are made only as of the date of this Statement.  Nothing in this Statement should be construed as a profit forecast.  The Group accepts no obligation publicly to revise or update these forward-looking statements or adjust them as a result of new information or for future events or developments, except to the extent legally required.

 

END

 

 

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