Waco UK reveal a pre-tax loss of £6m

Waco UK, the specialist in off-site manufacture of pre-fabricated buildings for the construction industry, has unveiled more losses.

Latest annual results show Waco to be in the red for the second year running.

Latest annual results for the 12 months to 30 June 2007 reveal a pre-tax loss of £6m. this follows a £9m loss in 2006.

Turnover ran to £44m, a fall of £7m on the previous figure of £51m.

Waco UK is owned by Waco International, a global group with a £350m-a-year turnover.  It fires out its results from an office in South Africa, but is registered in the Cayman Islands.

The directors of Waco UK report that the fall in turnover was “due to a lack of focus in some areas of the business which has now been addressed”.

They add that there was a negative impact “by the continuing integration” of the Interlink business into the existing Waco business.

“We are confident that the 2007 financial year is the last year that will be impacted by the integration,” they state.

Average utilisation of the hire units was 74% and initiatives to increase the utilisation of hire units are “already returning positive results”.

The risks facing the group are listed as:

• the skills shortage in the construction industry
• the level of healthcare and education spending by government
• capacity constraints in the industry
• tight delivery deadlines imposed by Waco’s clients.

No dividend was paid in 2007. None was paid in the previous year.

The highest-paid director received £156,000 plus a pension contribution of £15,000.

His tally in the previous year was higher, running to 263,000.

Waco UK’s website portrays the pioneering spirit of the group.

It notes that the company was formed by the merger of Premier Transline Group and Interlink Building Systems, the latter having been developed by Waco.

“Premier Interlink has over 50 years experience and has developed the concept of multi-story, off-site manufactured buildings,” says the website.

“Off-site manufacture is often referred to as being a ‘modern method of construction’. It may be a steep change for many in the construction industry, but we’ve been doing it for over 50 years.”