WS Atkins trading in line with expectations

ENGINEERING consultancy WS Atkins has announced first quarter trading in line with expectations and said it remained resilient to market fluctuations.

In an interim management for the period from April 1, the company, which has operations across the West Midlands, said its Design and Engineering Solutions business had seen an improvement in workload following the end of the regulatory Asset Management Programme (AMP) cycle, with UK water companies starting to commit to their new programmes of work.

It energy business is also performing well and is currently resourcing its recent contract win on the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).

The UK building design business, which is a small part of this segment, has been impacted by the cancellation of some projects under the Building Schools for the Future programme.
 
The group said its rail business had had a challenging first quarter. Work has progressed on major projects as planned and our signalling business remains busy, while the highways and transportation business performed in line with expectations.
 
The Middle East division made steady progress while the group’s other operations in Europe and China were in line with expectations.

The Management and Project Services segment traded in line with expectations, while the management consultancy business performed well.
 
The group has agreed a new four year financing facility of £150m and, with net funds of around £300m at the end of June, and it said its financial position remained strong.

 
It also announced today a merger agreement to acquire The PBSJ Corporation in the United States for $280m. Florida-based PBSJ is employee owned and one of America’s leading providers of engineering, planning, architecture, construction, environmental and programme management services.

“Our diversified exposure to end markets continues to give us added resilience to market fluctuations and we remain well prepared for a period of tighter UK Government spending. We continue to monitor closely the expected demand for our services and adjust our resources accordingly,” said the firm in a statement.

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