Results for the Year Ended 31 March 2016

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Marketwired - Jun 16, 2016) - Atkins (WS) PLC (LSE: ATK)

Design, engineering and project management consultancy WS Atkins plc (Atkins) today announces its preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2016.

RESULTS SUMMARY

				Note		2016		2015		Change
	Income statement
		Revenue				£1,861.9m		£1,756.6m		+6.0%
		Operating profit				£143.4m		£118.5m		+21.0%
		Underlying operating profit		1		£148.2m		£134.1m		+10.5%
		Operating margin				7.7%		6.7%		+1.0pp
		Underlying operating margin		2		8.0%		7.6%		+0.4pp
		Profit before tax				£131.1m		£106.7m		+22.9%
		Underlying profit before tax		3		£139.0m		£121.9m		+14.0%
		Profit for the year after tax				£103.4m		£85.7m		+20.7%
		Diluted EPS				103.0p		85.4p		+20.6%
		Underlying diluted EPS		4		107.3p		97.1p		+10.5%
	Dividend					39.5p		36.5p		+8.2%
	People			5
		Staff numbers 31 March				18,052		18,462		-2.2%
		Average staff numbers				18,416		17,898		+2.9%
	Cash
		Operating cash flow				£116.1m		£133.9m		-13.3%
		Net funds		6		£191.7m		£179.3m		+6.9%
	Work in hand			7		44%		51%		-7pp

Financial highlights
-  Revenue up 6% to £1.86bn
-  Underlying operating profit up 10.5%, 8.0% margin target achieved
-  Underlying profit before tax of £139.0m, ahead of market expectations
-  Underlying diluted EPS up 10.5%, full year dividend up 8.2%
-  Strong balance sheet with net funds of £191.7m at 31 March 2016
Operational highlights
-  Significant improvement in UK and Europe performance
-  Two recent major transportation project wins in North America underpin workload into the new financial year
-  Strong performance in Middle East driven by the Central Planning Office in Qatar and peak delivery on metro projects
-  In Asia Pacific we continue to pursue outbound investment opportunities with selected Chinese contractors
-  Difficult year for Energy, although good growth in nuclear, power and renewables
-  PP&T nuclear acquisition completed in April 2016.

"We are delighted to have achieved our 8% operating margin target against headwinds in certain markets. These are good results with strong growth in profitability and underlying diluted EPS. Overall, we remain confident for the year ahead despite continued uncertainty in some of our markets."

Allan Cook CBE Chairman

Prof Dr Uwe Krueger CEO

Enquiries
Heath Drewett, Group finance director	[phone]
Sara Lipscombe, Group communications director	[phone]
Kate Moy, Investor relations director	[phone]

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http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/3349B_1-2016-6-15.pdf

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