Water Intelligence anticipates H1 boost from North America contract wins

Water Intelligence on Thursday said it was optimistic for a "strong" first half of the year following contract wins in the US and Canada by its subsidiary, Water Intelligence International Limited (WII), including a contract in Flint, Michigan.

The leak detection outfit said WII will commence work on five contracts in the US and Canada worth at least $0.3m between April 29 and June 11, which Water Intelligence said underscores the growth synergies from cross-selling solutions with American Leak Detection (ALD), its core subsidiary focused on water leak solutions for residential and business-to-business customers such as insurance companies.

UK-based WII was acquired in 2016 in order to complement ALD and offer municipal solutions in order to capture a share of the anticipated rise in infrastructure spending worldwide.

Water Intelligence added that one of the new contracts in Flint, Michigan offered an opportunity to take a brand leadership position in working with municipalities and communities on a range of value-add water infrastructure solutions due to the town's well publicised issues with drinking water.

The town has faced a water crisis since 2014, with water treatment failings causing lead to leach into drinking water, exposing over 100,000 of the town's residents to elevated lead levels and leading to multiple criminal charges and lawsuits, as well as international media attention.

Patrick DeSouza, executive chairman of Water Intelligence, said: "ALD-led wins during Q1 produced a strong start. These Q2 wins led by WII will add to 1H momentum and help build an exciting story for 2019. Steve Gayler, our leader at WII has the operational experience and drive to enable WII to exceed our expectations. The reputation that WII is developing for its technology and execution leadership will produce increasing levels of opportunity for the group."

Water Intelligence's shares were up 6.78% at 315.00p at 0959 BST.