Facilities management firm Mitie Group PLC (LON:MTO) highlighted “modest growth” in overall sales as it gave investors an update ahead of reporting full year financial results (for the 12 months ending March 31), which will be due in June.
Revenue growth is anticipated at between 2% and 2.5% for the reporting period.
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It told investors that group debt levels are comfortably within banking covenants and operating profit is in line with management’s expectations, albeit cash generation has been negatively impacted by higher costs and what it described as a reduced reliance on invoice discounting.
"We are one year into our transformation programme and we are making progress. Our order book is solid and revenue is up year-on-year,” said Phil Bentley, Mitie chief executive.
“Project Helix is starting to deliver cost savings. We have upgraded our sales and customer service capability, and we continue to invest in talent and technology.”
Somewhat inevitably, Bentley provided commentary on the broader sector in the wake of Carillion PLC’s collapse.
“The liquidation of Carillion has raised some fundamental questions about the outsourcing industry,” he said.
“Managing the buildings and the workplaces of our clients is a complex business, but our expertise, scale and focus continue to be valued by our clients.”
He added: "We remain focused on delivering exceptional FM services and rolling out our Connected Workspace technology to provide advanced analytics, delivering trusted advice and valued insights."
Bentley also told investors that 2018 remains challenging, as the company continues its ‘transformation’, and he sees a continuation of the “modest revenue growth” which is expected to support improved profits and cash generation.