Enterprise reveals record order book of £2.2bn

Enterprise, the support services group, has a record forward orderbook worth £2.2bn.

In a trading statement issued this morning, chief executive Jack McGrory said: “I am delighted at the progress we have made in the last six months and particularly by the success of our partnership with Carillion and Atkins. We look forward to a long-term relationship with the Ministry of Defence, a new client for Enterprise.”

A push for more work in the public sector has resulted in securing preferred bidder status on a long-term waste management and disposal contract with Wolverhampton District Council and the award of a similar contract with South Ribble Borough Council. The total value of this work is £180m.

Trading conditions in Enterprise’s southern water division, however, continue to be “challenging”.

Enterprise has also published an analysis of the main impact of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) on its results for last year. The main impacts are that goodwill is no longer amortised and pension deficits are included in the balance sheet. For Enterprise, the overall effect was to move its 2004 pre-tax profit figure up from £7.7m to £11m.