Annual results announcement year ended 31 December 2010

Interserve, the international support services and construction group, reports a strong second-half performance within its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2010, with significant opportunities for growth in a number of markets both in the UK and internationally.

Read the highlights below or download the full annual results by clicking the PDF icon:

	2010	2009
Revenue	£1,872.0m	£1,906.8m
Headline pre-tax profit	£69.6m	£78.3m
Profit before tax	£64.1m	£89.2m
Headline earnings per share	42.8p	49.7p
Basic earnings per share	39.5p	54.9p
Net debt	£53.8m	£37.3m
Full-year dividend	18.0p	17.5p

Strong performance

• As anticipated a strong second half, with a 32 per cent improvement on first half headline pre-tax profit
• Full-year operating cash conversion of 107 per cent
• Full-year dividend up 3 per cent to 18.0 pence per share

Strong financial position

• Significant capacity to drive growth, with £250 million of committed debt facilities renewed until late 2013
• Net debt of £54 million, after pension deficit funding contributions of £22 million and acquisitions of £27 million
• Marked reduction in pension deficit (net of taxation) to £38 million (2009: £69 million)

Confidence in Group’s prospects

• 2011: expect stable trading conditions
• £1.6 billion of workload for 2011, within a substantial total future workload of £5.3 billion
• On track with progression towards c. 5 per cent target margin in Support Services
• Medium term capability to double earnings per share again over five years

Chief Executive Adrian Ringrose commented, “Interserve traded in line with expectations during challenging conditions in 2010, with an excellent performance from Project Services and the initial benefits of our margin enhancement programme in Support Services being offset by cyclical weakness in Equipment Services.

We expect stable trading conditions overall in 2011. Moreover we believe that we have the capability to double earnings per share over five years, given:

-    our proven strategy, which has led to a doubling of earnings per share over the past five years;
-    our attractive mix of end markets; and
-    our strong financial position, with significant capacity for growth.

This confidence is reflected in the Board’s recommendation of the continuation of our progressive dividend policy.”

– Ends –

For further information please contact:
Adrian Ringrose, Chief Executive 0118 932 0123
Tim Haywood, Group Finance Director 0118 932 0123
Matt Jones, Head of Investor Relations 0118 960 2280
Neil Bennett / Tom Eckersley 020 7379 5151
Maitland

About Interserve
Interserve's vision is to be The Trusted Partner of all our stakeholders. We are one of the world’s foremost support services and construction companies, operating in the public and private sectors in the UK and internationally. We offer advice, design, construction, equipment and facilities management services for society's infrastructure. We are based in the UK, have revenue of £1.9 billion and a workforce of 50,000 people worldwide.

Note
This news release, the Chairman’s statement and the Director’s report include a number of non-statutory measures, to reflect the impact of non-trading and non-recurring items. See note 15 to the consolidated financial statements on page 41 for a reconciliation of these measures to their statutory equivalents.