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Amey in £217m loss

Amanda Fisher

Amey has posted a £217.2m loss for 2019, after it revalued two of the businesses it has put up for sale.

Amey, which itself is for sale by parent Ferrovial, put its utilities and environmental services arms up for sale last year, although the sale process has since been delayed by the covid-19 pandemic.

The businesses, now counted as discontinued operations, made losses which meant that the company had to revalue them, giving rise to a £158.9m impairment. The impairment, combined with the £97.2m worth of losses generated by the two businesses, has resulted in a £256.1m hit to Amey’s bottom line.

But it was a brighter picture for Amey UK’s continuing operations, where revenue increased by £325m in 2019 to £1.9bn, thanks in part to the full-year impact of acquiring the CarillionAmey Defence joint venture companies in 2018. Pre-tax profit from continuing operations before exceptional items was £48.5m, down from £59.4m the year before.

Chief executive Amanda Fisher, who was promoted to the role in December 2019, said: “Market conditions have remained challenging with government contracting and outsourcing services remaining firmly in the spotlight whilst the domestic government agenda has been overshadowed by Brexit. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic in the UK has also led to significant business challenges to be met, including ensuring the health and safety of all of our employees in this time. Throughout this period, we have remained focused on three key priorities: protecting our employees and the communities we serve; continuing to deliver for our clients and maintaining critical services that the country relies on; and supporting our suppliers.

“Following a strategic review of the business, we concluded that the group’s portfolio of business is too diverse and needs simplifying, rationalising and resizing. As part of our new strategy we intend to dispose of the utilities and environmental services businesses, for which a disposal programme has commenced.”

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