Van Elle Holdings plc

('Van Elle', the 'Company' or the 'Group')

First Half Trading Update

Notice of Results

Analyst Briefing & Investor Presentation

Van Elle Holdings plc (AIM: VANL), the UK's largest ground engineering contractor, today provides a trading update for the six months ended 31 October 2022 (the 'Period').

Trading update

The strong momentum in trading achieved from the start of the year through to the update at the time of the Company's AGM, continued through the remainder of the first half of the year. All divisions operated at high activity levels, with significantly increased revenues delivered in Housing and General Piling. As a result, the Group expects to report record revenues for the period of approximately £81m, representing an increase of 35% on the prior year comparative (HY2022: £60.1m). Profit before tax is expected to exceed £3.0m for the Period (HY2022: £1.9m).

Although there has been some easing in supply chain disruption during the Period, inflation, and in particular wage, fuel and materials costs have continued to impact the Group's cost base.  These are substantially mitigated through contract price mechanisms as far as possible, however in some cases there is a lag in recovery.

The Group's order book at 31 October 2022 increased 26% to £49.0m (30 June 2022: £39.0m).

Cash as at 31 October 2022 was £8.4m (30 April 2022: £7.0m) and net funds (excluding IFRS 16 lease liabilities) were £3.5m (30 April 2022: £5.9m).

Whilst recognising the current economic uncertainty in the UK, strong activity levels are expected to be sustained through the second half of the year, despite the winter months which traditionally deliver lower activity levels due to weather disruptions. The Board is pleased with the progress made in the first half of the year and anticipates trading for the full year to be slightly ahead of market expectations.

Notice of results

The Company expects to announce its half-year results on Wednesday 25 January 2023.

Analyst Briefing: 9.30am, Wednesday 25 January 2023

A briefing for Analysts will be held at 9.30am on the morning of the results.  Analysts interested in attending should contact Walbrook PR on [email protected] or 020 7933 8780.

Investor Presentation: 3.30pm, Wednesday 25 January 2023

Mark Cutler, Chief Executive Officer, and Graeme Campbell, Chief Financial Officer, will hold a presentation to review the results and outlook at 3.30pm on 25 January 2023. The presentation will be hosted through the digital platform Investor Meet Company.

Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free and add to meet Van Elle Holdings plc via the following link https://www.investormeetcompany.com/van-elle-holdings-plc/register-investor. Investors who have already registered and added to meet the Company will automatically be invited. 

Questions can be submitted pre-event to [email protected] or in real time during the presentation via the "Ask a Question" function.

For further information, please contact:

About Van Elle Holdings plc:

Van Elle Holdings is the UK's largest specialist geotechnical engineering contractor. The Company provides a range of ground engineering techniques and services including - ground investigation, general and specialist piling, rail geotechnical engineering, modular foundations, and ground improvement and stabilisation services.

Van Elle operates through three divisions: General Piling, Specialist Piling and Rail, and Ground Engineering Services; and is focused on three end markets: residential and housing, infrastructure and regional construction - across which the Group has completed more than 20,000 projects over the last 35 years.

General Piling provides a range of larger piling and ground engineering solutions for open-site construction projects. Specialist Piling and Rail provides a range of geotechnical solutions in operationally constrained environments including on-track rail applications. Ground Engineering Services offers a range of ground investigation and geotechnical services and modular foundation solutions such as Smartfoot®. Van Elle has a market-leading reputation and the UK's largest rig fleet of 122 rigs.

Having floated on AIM in 2016 it now has a strong national presence, diversified offering and market-leading brand name.