Amec rides out a rough year

2002 was a tough year for Amec as most of its divisions saw drop offs in performance as world markets slowed. Turnover was down 3% to £4.3bn while operating profit slipped 3.3% to £126.2m.

Amec's pre-tax profit before exceptional costs fell 9% to £105.2m. However after exceptional costs relating to reorganisation, closure and disposal, a goodwill write down and goodwill amortisation, the pre-tax figure slipped further to £39.2m.

The capital projects division had a hard time. The construction management arm continued to "pursue strategic refocusing", leading to a 17.9% drop in turnover to £513m. 2001's operating profit of £1.1m became an operating loss of £2.3m.

The construction business suffered a 6.6% drop in turnover to just shy of £1.9bn, while operating profit slipped from £62.1m to £56.1m. However, the operating margin was steady at 3%. Amec attributed the drop off to lower levels of activity in the North American and UK industrial sectors.

Amec's board stated: "Industrial markets remain a concern and the UK property development market is expected to be challenging before levels of activity on major UK regeneration schemes increase in 2004."

The PPP division generated a turnover of £32.6m and an operating profit of £6.2m.

Meanwhile the group has completed its purchase of the outstanding 54% interest in Spie.