WET News

18 Leaders 2015 Barhale back in the black aer testing time Black & Veatch strives for major growth Barhale Bescot Crescent Walsall WS1 4NN T: 0844 736 0090 www.barhale.co.uk BlaCk & VeaTCh Grosvenor house 69 london road redhill Surrey rh1 1lQ T: 01737 774155 www.bv.com the LeADeRS 2015 AMP6 water business has contributed to a £2.2M operating profit for Barhale for the year to June 2014, having made a £2.7M loss for the same period in 2013. Turnover last year was £60.2M, down more than half the figure for 2013. Barhale says its long-term order book based around AMP6 water deals hit a potential £1.5bn, helping to contribute to its recovery. There has also been a management restructure, and rationalisation of some operations. Barhale's return to the black follows a management restructure and a slimming down of some operations. Chairman and company owner Dennis Curran has taken a more hands-on role as the company concentrates on its core skills of providing tunnelling, sha‡ sinking and civil engineering work to the water sector. Andy Flowerday has also Engineering, consulting, construction and operations company Black & Veatch reported a £40M drop in turnover for its UK operations. Its turnover figure was £226.5M for the year to December 2013, £40M down on the previous year. A pre-tax loss of £7.5M was recorded last year, compared with a pre-tax profit of £3.6M in 2013. ESD is Black & Veath's most recent success. ESD, the joint venture with Galliford Try and MWH Global, has been announced as the preferred bidder for Scottish Water's framework to provide water and wastewater services throughout Scotland. The work is worth £560M, and will be delivered in collaboration with the utility. The six-year deal involves programme management, design, stakeholder engagement, construction and commissioning for water and wastewater treatment projects. This is the second success for Black & Veatch in been reinstated as managing director, while cuts at non-profitable parts of the business have seen total staff numbers fall to 778 from 867. Curran says: "Having secured such a strong order book allows our staff and clients the peace of mind to know that Barhale will continue to build on our reputation of being a trusted and capable delivery company on the various projects we undertake." Flowerday adds: "We set out areas where we felt we Scottish Water's current six-year regulatory cycle, which runs until 2021. It is part of the aBV joint venture, partnering Amey, working on the £345M Lot 1 Wastewater Infrastructure Alliance. Scott Aitken, managing director of the company's European Water Division, is aiming to double the business' turnover within five years through helping customers to deliver good value for money to their customers in ways that make efficiency savings using innovative operational solutions. "The industry is in needed to improve. The new executive management team and our dedicated staff have been magnificent and have refocused activities within the business to the areas that really matter." He adds: "Feedback from our clients and stakeholders confirm they like the changes and suggest our reputation as a trusted and capable delivery partner has been enhanced. This will not be taken for granted, and if anything, reminds us all why we work in this fantastic industry." a cycle of capital maintenance at the moment. Its needs are mainly focused around a lot of smaller interventions, but at the same time there's a balance between that and the need to make investments that get the results that customers demand, so that their bills remain affordable. "We can o‡en solve a number of problems for water companies at the same time. This might be raising a dam to increase the capacity of water available, for example, but we might also improve the amount of hydro energy that can be generated." The NUMBerS 2011 2012 2013 % ChaNGe Sales £M 255.2 267.6 226.5 -15 Gross profit £M 7.8 21.6 5.9 -73 Operating profit £M -9.5 4.3 -7.5 -272 Pre-tax profit £M -9.3 3.6 -7.5 -311 Staff 1,093 1,075 1,012 -6 Net assets £M 28.4 43.8 37.6 -14 The raTIOS 2011 2012 2013 % ChaNGe Return on capital % -33 8.1 -20 -346 Gross margin % 3 8.1 2.6 -68 Operating margin % -3.7 1.6 -3.3 -303 Net margin % -3.7 1.3 -3.3 -349 Sales/employee £K 233.5 248.9 223.8 -10 The NUMBerS 2012 2013 2014 % ChaNGe Sales £M 142.1 124.5 60.2 -52 Gross profit £M 12.1 6.5 6.4 -1 Operating profit £M 1.9 -2.7 2.2 -181 Pre-tax profit £M 1.6 -3 2 -167 Staff 869 867 778 -10 Net assets £M 7.965 5.892 7.477 27 The raTIOS 2012 2013 2014 % ChaNGe Return on capital % 19.5 -50.4 26.5 -152 Gross margin % 8.5 5.2 10.7 104 Operating margin % 1.3 -2.1 3.6 -268 Net margin % 1.1 -2.4 3.3 -238 Sales/employee £K 163.5 143.6 77.3 -46

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