Driver Group bullish after record year
DRIVER Group, the North West company which provides commercial and dispute resolution services to the construction and engineering industries around the world, has racked up a record year.
The Rossendale-based group said it has seen growth in every territory in the year to September 30 as revenues jumped 41% to £37.2m. Around half the increase came as a result of its 2012 acquisition of rival Trett, while the remainder came from the continued organic growth of the business in Africa, Middle East and the UK. In total 62% of revenues were generated overseas.
Driver also delivered at the bottom line too – underlying profits before tax increased by 77% to £3.1m. In line with this permance the group hiked its dividend by a third from 1p to 1.5p per share.
The company said its best performing regions in terms of revenue growth were Asia Pacific – up 203% in the year; Africa +80% and Middle East +65%. To strengthen its international footprint Driver has opened offices in Brisbane, Australia, Munich and Hong Kong, while closer to home it has opened a base in Aberdeen.
Alan McClue, non-executive chairman said the company had out-performed market expectations during the period.
“Throughout the year we continued the positive trends seen in 2011 / 2012, and our strong cash generation took us to a net cash position at the end of the year. This strength in trading, cash generation and continued optimism across the business allows us to recommend an increase in the final dividend.”
Assessing prospects for the present financial year Mr McClue said Driver had made a good start to trading.
He said the group’s medium-term goals were developing its oil & gas and petrochemical offerings in every region whilst leveraging its client base and all service offerings. Targeted acquisitions in certain sectors would also be considered, he added.
“We see the coming year as one in which we will continue to grow and benefit from the investment made in 2013. This growth is likely to come from increasing utilisation levels and taking of market share in America and Asia Pacific in particular together with opportunities to further expand in the Middle East.
“We are delighted by the way our current financial year has started and particularly in Asia Pacific which is showing early signs of benefitting from last year’s investment. Europe and the Middle East continue with the momentum experienced as we exited our last financial year.
“We have visibility of our first quarter performance and our secure work beyond the first quarter together with a strong pipeline of opportunities ahead which gives the board a high level of confidence in the outlook for the remainder of the financial year.”
