Mansell lost £8m in 2003

Mansell made an £8m loss during 2003 on a turnover of £530m, according to the group's final set of independent results. Balfour Beatty bought Mansell in December 2003 for £43m.
The performance was well down on the previous year when Mansell had kept out of the red - but only just. A turnover of £530m in 2002 resulted in a pre-tax profit of £3m, representing an operating margin of 0.6%.
Mansell's latest results show a black hole in the pension fund running to £41m. This has two main elements: a shortfall in the Mansell scheme of £18m, plus a further £18m liability in the one that came with Hall & Tawse, an acquisition in the mid-1990s.
Exceptional items listed in the results run to £13m. Three were triggered by the acquisition by Balfour: a £2.4m bonus to directors; £1.1m of professional fees and £116,000 in directors' terminal payments. The decision in 2002 to close the reactive maintenance business triggered a further £8m cost.