Business
AGM Statement
AGM Statement.
About this update from James Fisher And Sons Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n Fisher (James) & Sons PLC\n03 May 2007\n\n\nThursday 3 May 2007\n James Fisher and Sons plc\n\n AGM Statement\n\n\nJames Fisher and Sons plc, the marine services provider, is holding its Annual\nGeneral Meeting in Barrow-in-Furness today. At the meeting, Tim Harris,\nExecutive Chairman, will make the following comments:\n\n'2006 was a productive and successful year for the Group. We delivered a strong\nperformance with revenue up 29% to £118.1m (2005: £91.4m) and profit from\ncontinuing activities before separately disclosed items and tax up 42% to £15.9\nmillion (2005: £11.2 million). Our Marine Support Services activities accounted\nfor around 70% of the Group's operating profit.\n\n'2007 has started well and I am pleased to report that the integration of\nEverards has progressed as planned. The integration of the commercial and ship\nmanagement teams is now complete; the chartering department has become one team,\nbased in London, whilst the Everard ship management team has moved to our head\noffice in Barrow. The remaining step in our plan is the full integration of the\nJames Fisher and Everard sea staff which we anticipate will be completed by the\nend of the first half.\n\n'The third of the Everard's newbuilds, Superiority, has just entered service and\nwe expect the fourth and final vessel, Supremity, to enter service in late\nsummer. Our plans for refinancing the first three Everard newbuilds as bareboat\ncharters are well advanced.\n\n'It has been our aim since 2002 to become the UK's leading marine services\ncompany and build our Marine Support Services divisions both by acquisition and\nby organic growth. All three of these divisions, Offshore Oil, Specialist\nTechnical and Defence, have started the year well and are trading in line with\nmanagement expectations. These businesses are the key focus of James Fisher's\ngrowth which should now be enhanced further by the cash flow from the\nacquisition of Everard.\n\n'The benefits of the Everard acquisition should begin to come through in the\nsecond half of 2007. As already indicated, any positive impact in the first\nhalf will be offset by the costs of integration, the majority of which will be\nincurred in this period. Overall, the Group is well positioned to continue to\nproduce good growth and value for our shareholders.'\n\n\n - Ends -\n\nFor further info...