Source: www.rttnews.com
Wednesday, in an interim management statement for the period from October 2009 to date, said that year-to-date results were in line with its expectations.
The UK-based group is engaged in providing professional design and engineering consultancy services through six operational segments namely Design and Engineering Solutions; Highways and Transportation; Rail; Middle East, China and Europe; Management and Project Services, and Asset Management. Atkins’ featured projects include: Dubai Metro in UAE, Gautrain Rapid Rail Link of South Africa, Burj Al Arab in UAE, Copenhagen Metro of Denmark and more.
Atkins noted that during the period, it continued to respond proactively by adjusting staffing levels in line with prospective demand and delivered cost saving efficiencies, while market conditions remained turbulent.
The company also released a one-off, non-cash credit provision of GBP 25 million after the expiry of a letter of credit issued in respect of the Metronet enterprise, and this amount which will be reflected in the group’s full year income statement.
During the period, Design and Engineering Solutions segment saw significant restructuring in a number of businesses. Due to the reduced workload requirements of the UK water companies, it scaled back the water operations business. Meanwhile, in the energy business, investment continued in resources to meet the expected increase in demand in the nuclear and renewables sectors.
Highways and Transportation business remained strong, thanks to UK government’s fiscal stimulus programme.
The group said that Rail segment continued to deliver good results. It completed the first major commissioning of the Newport re-signalling projects and continued to work closely with Chiltern Railways and their approved contractors on their upgrade programme.
Middle East business has traded well, despite the ongoing liquidity issues that emerged in the region in November. Further, the group is looking to expand its geographic reach and sector skills in the region. Also, Europe and China businesses demonstrated progress in line with expectations.
Atkins said that within the Management and Project Services segment, its management consultancy business has remained strong, while Faithful+Gould business continued to perform in line with our expectations.
Asset Management segment remain stable following the exit from PFI maintenance contract.
Looking ahead,”Whilst the economic environment remains challenging, our good performance to date underpins our confidence for the full year. We continue to take the necessary steps to navigate successfully in difficult market conditions and our early action has positioned the business well for the future,” commented the group.
