Engineering consultant predicts results will be ahead of expectations in trading update

Hyder Consulting has said pre-tax profit for the year ended 31 March will be ahead of market expectations.

The consensus forecast is for pre-tax profit of £14.6m on turnover of £309m.

In a trading update the engineering consultant said: “Asia Pacific operations have continued to perform well, benefiting from strong sales performance and improved operational efficiency. In the Middle East, our businesses are also trading well and winning work in broader geographical areas. In Europe, results have improved in the second half, following further restructuring in the utilities and environment sectors.”

It said the bottom line would be hit by one-off costs of £3m that relate to redundancies although foreign exchange gains of £2m owing to the weakness of sterling will offset the impact.

The company added: “Our drive on working capital has resulted in good cash collections in the second half and consequently net debt at the year end is expected to be substantially below market expectations. With over 70% of revenues and about 80% of operating profits derived from overseas, we are confident of strong performance in the year ahead.”

Its results are due on 8 June.

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