Rigby Group (RG) plc, the parent company for a portfolio of family-owned and highly successful businesses operating across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, has achieved another record set of results for the financial year ending March 31st, 2019.
The Group comprises six core divisions: technology, airports, hotels, aviation, real estate and finance, and has made further strategic acquisitions and divestments in the past 12 months.
Technology is the largest part of the Group and its continued growth is driven by demand from businesses seeking outsourced and cost-effective solutions for cloud and digital services. Elsewhere, the airports division continues to be a significant contributor of profitability for the Group and further double-digit growth is expected in the current financial year.
Group Highlights
• Consolidated revenues from continuing operations, £2,771.7m (increase of £398.3m) • EBITDA (before exceptional items) for the continuing operations, £65.4m (increase of £6.7m / 11.4%) • Consolidated net assets of £311.2m (increase of £17.9m / 6% • Pre-tax return of assets delivered 12.3% • Gross cash at year end was £380.4m • The group continues to be active in the M&A markets across its portfolio interests.
Technology
SCC delivers IT to more than 2,500 customers in more than 50 countries, supporting five million users. They operate out of 75 locations in the UK, France, Romania and Spain. SCC delivered a solid financial performance with revenue growth of £322m to £2.15bn and EBITDAE of £46.6m (growth of £2m / 4%). The group remains well positioned to continue to benefit from digitisation as well as the move to cloud computing and the associated services and product streams. Notable highlights included ongoing investment in expansion of its data centres, major investments in new HR, service management and ERP systems together with further M&A investments such as the acquisition of AVS.
• Consolidated revenues from continuing operations, £2.15bn. • EBITDA (before exceptional items) for the continuing operations, £46.6m.
Airports
Regional & City Airports (RCA) is the UK’s leading regional airport operator, led by a team with proven commercial and operational expertise in both the airport and airline sectors. RCA owns Bournemouth Airport, Coventry Airport, Exeter Airport and Norwich Airport, and operates Blackpool Airport, City of Derry Airport and Solent Airport Daedalus on behalf of their owners. The Airports division delivered solid growth in both passengers and profitability. Revenues reached £58.1m, an increase of £12.9m / 28.5% with EBITDAE growth of £9.8m to £17.3m. More than 200,000 sq. ft of new hangarage was acquired for clients in Exeter and Bournemouth as well as delivery of a new terminal expansion at Exeter. A major new hangarage development in Norwich was also secured. New carriers were secured for all airports.
• Consolidated revenues from continuing operations, £58.1m • EBITDA (before exceptional items) for the continuing operations, £17.3m.
Hotels
The Eden Hotel Collection (“EHC”) is a well-established and widely recognised award-winning luxury hotel brand within the UK. EHC currently owns or operates eight luxury hotels in the Midlands, the Cotswolds and South West with Bovey Castle Hotel in Devon the flagship hotel for the group.
• Consolidated revenues from continuing operations, £19.6m. • EBITDA (before exceptional items) for the continuing operations, (£0.1m) loss.
Aviation
The Aviation division provides a diverse range of services to the aviation sector through the operation of a fleet of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters underpinned by a safety culture which flows through every aspect of the business. The aviation business continued to operate its MOD missions in the UK and the Falklands, as well as undertaking hundreds of patient repatriation flights and maintained aircraft through its MRO operations.
• Consolidated revenues from continuing operations, £20.5m. • EBITDA (before exceptional items) for the continuing operations, (£0.8m) loss
Real Estate
Rigby Real Estate owns a diverse real estate portfolio with freehold properties, large scale commercial projects and bespoke residential developments. The Group has an active acquisition programme in place to continue the growth of the division across commercial land and residential property.
Highlights from the past year include securing outline consent for a 3.7m sq. ft. scheme in Coventry. The estate was 98% let in Bournemouth, where consent was also submitted for over 1m sq. ft. of new facilities. In Norwich, planning was submitted for 1m sq. ft. of development. The residential & yacht interior design part of the business was consolidated into Allect, with a healthy order book of over £50m across 50 worldwide projects.
• Consolidated revenues from continuing operations, £18.1m. • EBITDA (before exceptional items) for the continuing operations, £0.4m.
Finance
Rigby Group’s financial division comprises Rigby Private Equity and technology finance leasing business Rigby Capital. The financial services division completed the year with its first private equity disposal of Fluidone. This business invested in during 2015, delivered a 2.1x return and 25% IRR. The investment in Nuvias continues with the business achieving revenues of £398m during the year. The organic investment in Rigby Capital continues to bear dividends with UK revenues of £84m and French revenues of €130m.
• Consolidated revenues from continuing operations, £508m. • EBITDA (before exceptional items) for the continuing operations, £7.1m.
Sir Peter Rigby, Chairman and Chief Executive, commented: “This is another strong set of financial results for the Group, which underlines our growth strategy. Increases in revenue and profitability have been achieved at a time when we have also continued to invest in our services, infrastructure and, most crucial of all, our people, ensuring we are in a position to meet our future group objectives.”
Steven Rigby, Group Chief Operating Officer, commented: “The past 12 months have been yet another period of successful growth and strategic achievement for the Rigby Group. Across our operations, we have witnessed key milestones which collectively have fed into yet another record set of financial metrics. We have made key acquisitions, as well as successful strategic divestments during the period. We will continue to look at further acquisitions if they add value to the Group. As we look to our current fiscal year, we have much to be optimistic about with ambitious plans across our six divisions and expect to maintain our strong growth trajectory.”
