WS Atkins FY profit and revenue rise ahead of takeover

Engineer WS Atkins reported a rise in full-year profit and revenue in its last set of results before it gets taken over by Canada's SNC-Lavalin - a deal that was agreed back in April.

In the year to the end of March, statutory pre-tax profit rose 12.7% to £147.7m on revenue of £2.08bn, up 11.8% from 2016. At constant currency, revenue was up 4.3%, underpinned by the acquisition of nuclear waste and decommissioning specialist PP&T last year.

The company's UK and Europe business saw a 22.5% increase in operating profit to £90.4m, but revenue fell 3.4% to £911.1m mostly as a result of a reduction in rail signalling revenue. Meanwhile, operating profit at the North American business rose 64.2% to £33.5m, while revenue was up 32.5% to £480.5m due to increased major project volume in its department of transportation and intermodal businesses.

"We are successfully delivering on our three strategic growth priorities. Despite an uncertain macroeconomic environment, our focused strategy and execution has supported total shareholder returns of 144% over the five years to 31 March 2017.

"Our strategy to position the business in end-markets with favourable long-term trends, together with specific growth initiatives such as our Acuity advisory business, our expansion in nuclear engineering and our focus on digital and technology, position us well for future growth."