Hargreaves Services PLC (LON:HSP) has said its underlying numbers for the year to end-May will record growth over the previous year, but pointed out that its reported results will be hit by the collapse of British Steel.
The company, which provides services to the industrial and property sectors, said revenue and underlying operating profit are expected to show growth in line with current market expectations as a result of improved trading within the group's core businesses.
READ: British Steel collapse knocks Hargreaves Services to two year low
It noted that underlying profits will not include the impact of the provisions made following the insolvency events of Wolf Minerals last October and British Steel last month, which will both be reported as exceptional items.
At the time of the British Steel collapse, Durham-based Hargreaves estimated it had a net exposure of roughly £4.5mln from trade debt and work in progress, with around an £11mln potential impact on revenues in the 2019/20 financial year and £1.3mln on profits if various plans to rescue British Steel do not come to fruition.
There could also be a £9mln charge against profits from redundancy and other associated employment costs, together with asset write downs and leasing obligations, it added.
The group said its net debt at the year end was cut to £17.9mln from £30.8mln a year earlier, and it should benefit further after conditional sale agreements were exchanged during the year in respect of the first two plots at the group's residential development site, Blindwells, near Edinburgh, with legal completion expected in the current year at a value of more than £10mln.
Hargreaves shares were up 0.6% to 226.32p on Tuesday morning.