Driver Group in the red
LANCASHIRE-based construction consultancy Driver Group has posted an operating loss in its full year results but says a platform for growth has been put in place.
The Haslingden company’s full year revenue hit £48m (2014: £39.1m) for the year ended September 30 but it suffered an operating loss before tax of £1.9m (2014: £3.1m) after exceptional costs relating to severance payments of £500,000 and acquisition and integration costs of £1.6m, share based payment charge of £500,000 and amortisation of intangible assets of £200,000.
It is an improvement on the £2.1m loss reported in half year results, as a result of its operations in Africa, Middle East and Asia. In October, the company said it had suffered the knock on effect from the problems at the Redcar plant of Sahaviriya Steel Industries (SSI) and currency effects in the Middle East.
The company had a small team engaged at SSI in early September, but the work of all its consultants had now been terminated.
For the new financial year, the company has agreed a new £10m banking facility with HSBC to support working capital requirements.
Dave Webster, chief executive of Driver Group said: “The focus this year has been to create the platform that will support the strategic plan and growth targets through to 2018. The timely delivery of this plan is determined to a large extent by our ability to put this platform in place quickly and effectively.
“We set out to strengthen our brand and increase the profile of Driver, create a global critical mass to serve our clients anywhere in the world and have support structures in place to operate efficiently across all regions. I am delighted that we got much of this investment in place in the first half of the year and started to see some benefits coming through in the second half.
“We made strategic changes to the group board aimed at increasing our profile in the industry and across a wider market place; acquired Initiate to provide the group with a credible programme and project management service to the infrastructure sector; created critical mass in AMEA with the recruitment of 84 new people and established a business support unit in each of our operating regions to manage our global and interactive proposition.
“We now have a world class commercial and dispute resolution business and a credible programme and project management offering with a focus on the global infrastructure market where spend is at unprecedented levels. This gives me a lot of confidence in our future growth prospects.”
