LONDON (dpa-AFX) - Babcock International Group Plc. (BAB.L), in its trading update for the period from 1 April 2018, said that the Group is trading in line with its expectations and its order book and pipeline remain strong with a combined value unchanged at around 32 billion pounds--- about 18 billion pounds order book and 14 billion pounds pipeline. Around 87% of revenue is now in place for 2018/19 and around 57% for 2019/20.
The outlook for the year is unchanged. It expects low single digit underlying organic revenue growth at constant currency for the full year with stable margins. Underlying earnings guidance remains unchanged and as previously indicated, revenue and cash flow performance will be second half weighted as has been the case for a number of years.
The company expects to continue to reduce our debt during the year and expect our net debt to EBITDA ratio to be around 1.4 times by the end of the year.
The company said, 'In July we advised that we intended to exit a number of non-strategic, small, low-margin businesses in our Land sector. We have now exited our North American mining and construction support business and have agreed the sale of our Media Services business for around £30 million, with the sale expected to complete in the coming months. This follows the exit from our renewables and civil infrastructure businesses in the UK last year.'
The company noted that the process will continue in the second half of this year, where it expects to exit powerlines business in South Africa. It will also reshape its oil and gas crew change business to improve performance while ensuring it meets customer needs. It will provide an update on these activities with the announcement of its half year results in November.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX