Interim Results Announcement for 6 months ended 28 Jun 2020

¹Underlying operating profit, profit before tax and underlying diluted earnings per share are non-statutory measures which provide readers of this interim announcement with a balanced and comparable view of the Group’s performance by excluding the impact of non-underlying items, as disclosed in note 7 of the interim condensed consolidated financial statements.

²Net debt is presented on a lender covenant basis excluding the impact of IFRS16 as disclosed in note 12 of the interim condensed consolidated financial statements.

Highlights

• Improved profitability and cash generation evidence a strong first half performance despite the disruptive impact of COVID-19
• Revenue of £1,039m, down 5%, largely due to the impact of COVID-19 in APAC and EMEA
• Underlying operating profit of £47.9m, up 20% at constant currency, driven by strong North America performance and return to profitability in APAC
• Underlying EPS of 39.5p, up 37% at constant currency
• Net debt of £155m, down 54%, equating to net debt/EBITDA (on a covenant and IAS17 basis) of 0.9x, slightly favourable to our 1.0x-1.5x target range
• Strong liquidity position maintained with £595m of undrawn funding available
• Payment of the 2019 final dividend in August continues the Group’s track record of maintaining or increasing the dividend every year since flotation in 1994
• Continued progress in conventional and COVID-19 related safety, with a 19% year-on-year improvement in the accident frequency rate
• Execution of the revised strategy continues, with the successful exit from Brazil and rationalisation of Franki Africa including its integration into Middle East based operations
• Order book at the half year remained steady at c.£1bn, despite a recent decline in order intake from increased global macroeconomic uncertainty
• As previously stated, the payment of a 2020 interim dividend will be considered by the Board later in the year

Outlook

• The current order book supports trading through much of the second half of 2020 and, assuming no further material lockdowns, we anticipate delivering a resilient full year result, albeit without the typical second half weighting
• We anticipate that any sustained continuation of the recent decline in order intake during the second half will impact the forward order book, which, together with the macroeconomic uncertainty as a result of COVID-19, would be likely to result in the 2021 outlook being more challenging than for 2020

Michael Speakman, Chief Executive Officer, said:

“I am very pleased with the way the Keller team has responded to the challenges of COVID-19, and their actions are evidenced by our strong financial performance in the first half, further good progress in the implementation of our strategic actions and expected resilient performance for the full year. The late cycle nature of our business makes us naturally cautious about the short-term economic outlook and we are proactively managing the business accordingly. The long-term fundamentals for Keller continue to be strong and we remain optimistic about the future trading prospects and strategic opportunities for the Group.”

For further information, please contact:

Keller Group plc

Michael Speakman, Chief Executive Officer
Mark Hooper, Interim Chief Financial Officer
Victoria Huxster, Co-Head of Investor Relations
Caroline Crampton, Co-Head of Investor Relations

www.keller.com
020 7616 7575

Finsbury
Gordon Simpson

020 7251 3801

A webcast for investors and analysts will be held at 09.30am and will also be available, on demand, from 2.00pm at https://www.investis-live.com/keller/5f16c9d77b676e1e00950ba4/rgds

Conference call:
Participants joining by telephone:
United Kingdom 0800 640 6441
United Kingdom (Local) 020 3936 2999
All other locations +44 20 3936 2999
Participant access code 007715

Accessing the telephone replay:
A recording will be available until 11 August 2020
UK: 020 3936 3001
USA: 1 845 709 8569
All other locations: +44 20 3936 3001
Access Code: 387141

Notes to editors:

Keller is the world's largest geotechnical specialist contractor providing a wide portfolio of advanced foundation and ground improvement techniques used across the entire construction sector. With around 10,000 staff and operations across six continents, Keller tackles an unrivalled 7,000 projects every year, generating annual revenue of more than £2bn.