Parkwood to miss profit goals

LANCASHIRE-based Parkwood Holdings, the company which manages golf courses, swimming pools and also runs some PFI contracts, said today its annual results would be below City forecasts.

Parkwood, which is based in Bamber Bridge near Preston, employs more than  6,000 people nationwide in areas as diverse as nursing to leisure centres, said trading difficulties in its Glendale division had continued in the last quarter of 2008, meaning that results would fail to meet market expectations, but would be at least £2.3m.

Shares slipped 4p or 5.6% to 67p on the news.

It said the forward order book stands at £517m, below the 2007 year end order book of £532m.

The company said demand for golf course management and horticulture – maintaining public parks and gardens – had fallen away in the second half of the year.

It said it had responded by restructuring the Glendale division to create five separate trading companies covering grounds management, golf, horticulture, recycling and ‘countryside’ activities including arboriculture and landscaping.

Executive chairman Tony Hewitt, said: “The difficulties within the Glendale division have overshadowed the strong performance within the leisure division during the year.

“The restructuring of the Glendale division has been completed in time for the start of the new year and I remain confident that profitability will improve within the division in 2009.”

The full results will be published on March 9.