Peter Tom, chairman of
“Trading in the first quarter reflected the dramatic swings in the weather. A challenging January was followed by a better February in which activity returned to more normal levels, only to be succeeded by snow and freezing temperatures during March, which had an inevitable impact on volumes, especially in asphalt.
“However, our underlying order book remains sound and with the return of more seasonal weather volumes have picked up. Generally we are more optimistic about the outlook than we were this time last year.
“Recently we announced two major acquisitions, adding significantly to our portfolio of quarries and downstream operations in England and Scotland and more than doubling our reserves and resources to approximately 400 million tonnes, enough to last 76 years at current rates of extraction. These are perfect examples of our strategy in action: acquiring bolt-on businesses which complement our existing operations, extend our geographical reach, and offer excellent potential for earnings enhancement.
“The acquisitions were funded by a £61 million (€71.5 million) placing which was over-subscribed by investors. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank our shareholders for their continued support and also take this opportunity to welcome the new investors who participated in the placing.
“We are not immune to the stubbornly difficult economic environment in the UK, but our management team has consistently demonstrated its ability to deliver solid results in the most difficult market conditions and we continue to focus on delivering real value through self-help, tight cost control and careful selection of work.
“Our previous acquisitions have all added significant value to our core business, with the purchase of C&G in July 2011 in particular exceeding expectations. We fully anticipate being able to deliver value in the same way from our most recent acquisitions.
“Although it is still early in the year, at this stage we remain confident of delivering a performance in line with expectations in 2013.
“We will give a further update on the group’s progress in our interim results announcement on 18 July 2013.”
