Scott Wilson turnover 32% higher at £260m

Consultancy group Scott Wilson has enjoyed a 32% jump in turnover to £260m with the four acquisitions made during the financial year all said to be successfully integrated and performing above expectations.

Since the end of the financial year (29 April 2007) SW had snapped up two further deals:

• DCL Consulting Engineers, a building services consultancy based in the south west of England cost £1.1m.
• McLay Collier, a property structural engineering based in Glasgow, has been bought for £2.7m.

Pre-tax profit was £15m (previous year’s figure: £19m).

The new year has started with a record orderbook running to £260m and boosted by two major contract wins: Greece central motorway concession, which will earn fees of £13m, and the Three Counties Alliance, which will add a further £8m.

The key elements to SW’s five-year strategy are:

• organic growth of 10% or more
• operating margin of 8%
• working capital to be 80 days or less
• overhead costs to be trimmed to less than 16.5% of turnover
• more than 30% of work to be generated overseas. 

To reduce risks further, the plan is to have term contracts worth 35% of total turnover, 80% of work from existing or recent clients and no single project accounting for more than 10% of turnover.

A massive chunk was bitten out of the pension fund deficit during the year. The shortfall fell from £34m to £12m.

On 1 October 2006, trustees of the pension scheme agreed to break the link between accrued pensionable service (up to that date) and future salary increases.

SW floated on the Stock Exchange in March 2006. Employee numbers have grown from 4,000 at that time to a current figure of 5,500.

Geoff French, chairman, said: “The group is responding to an unprecedented global demand for infrastructure. The growing economies of China and India are encouraging rapid urbanisation of their populations.

“Increases in global trading, personal travel and endemic urban congestion are putting enormous pressure on existing transport systems.”