Impressive results as Ricardo gears up for second century

ENGINEERING consultancy Ricardo, which has a large operation in Warwickshire, has provided a positive trading update for the six month period to December 31.

Ricardo – whose client list includes the world’s major transportation original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), supply chain organisations, energy companies, financial institutions and governments – has seen revenue increase by 8% to £120.5m (December 2013: £111.9m) while underlying profit before tax was up by 9% to £10.1m (December 2013: £9.3m).

The period end order book was down slightly at £138m (June 2014: £142m) while net funds stood at £11.0m after £1.9m acquisition expenditure (June 2014: £12.6m).

Dave Shemmans, chief executive officer said:  “As Ricardo closes out the last half year of its first century, our core expertise remains at the heart of our clients’ demands – namely addressing energy efficiency, resource scarcity, emissions reduction and targeting global markets through innovation and technology.

“We continue to win orders from across all geographies and market sectors in which we operate and have again delivered profit growth together with good operating cash generation.

“Two small bolt-on acquisitions were completed in the period and the balance sheet remains strong to support our further growth.

“The second half has started well with strong order intake leading to a record order book of £152m at the end of January. As we look to our second century, we remain confident of further progress in the full year.”