Disposal of the gas business

RNS Number : 8030M

Spice PLC

01 June 2010

 



1 June 2010

Spice plc ("Spice" or the "Group")

DISPOSAL OF THE GAS BUSINESS

Spice, the provider of Outsourced Utility Support Services, is pleased to announce the disposal of the entire issued share capital of its loss making Gas Business.  

Highlights:

·    Elimination of a business which has contributed significant operating losses and which absorbed a very significant amount of management time and resources;

·    A clean exit through the sale of the share capital of the Gas Business for £nil consideration with no completion adjustments; and

·    Significantly enhanced, sharpened focus on Spice's Supply and Utilities facing Distribution businesses.

The aggregated audited financial statements of the Gas Business for the year ended 30 April 2010 show revenues of £34.3 million and a loss before tax of £6.4 million, arising from trading activities.  Aggregated gross assets for the Gas Business, taken from the unaudited Group consolidation schedules at 30 April 2010, were approximately £10.4 million.  The Gas Business, which maintains and repairs gas boilers and heating systems, was acquired by Booth Securities Limited.

Martin Towers, Chief Executive of Spice, said:

"During the past two years, the Gas business has been a material distraction for the Group and a drain on resources. Today's announcement draws a line under these issues. This disposal is a significant milestone and follows quickly on the heels of the sale of the Telecoms Business.  Spice is now able to move forward with a higher degree of focus on its core utilities and energy markets which have strong underlying regulatory and environmental drivers.

"We have made significant strides forward in recent months and the Board is confident that further progress is being made to restore shareholder value."

The Group expects to announce its results for the year to April 2010 on 6 July 2010. There will be a conference call for analysts at 08.00 this morning, the details of which can be obtained from Financial Dynamics.

Enquiries:

Spice plc Martin Towers, Chief Executive Oliver Lightowlers, Group Finance Director	Tel:  [phone]
Financial Dynamics Billy Clegg Caroline Stewart	Tel: [phone]
KBC Peel Hunt Sponsor & Broker Julian Blunt David Anderson Simon Brown	Tel: [phone]
Hawkpoint Financial Adviser Christopher Kemball Chris Robinson Serge Rissi	Tel: [phone]

NOTES TO EDITORS

Spice plc

Spice is a provider of infrastructure support services to the Utilities sector. The Group's operations were founded in 1996 and have their origins in the electricity industry, though the range of activities has since been expanded into the water and energy sectors. Spice's businesses have a common theme of delivering and co-ordinating infrastructure support services to customers, and the white collar element within the service mix has been built up significantly over recent years.

 

END

 

 

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