Strong annual results underpin long term resilience at Clancy

Stable profits, a strong cash position and a secure forward order book ensure Clancy is well-positioned to weather the Covid-19 crisis, according to the specialist utilities contractor.

The Group, which employed 2,500 over the year, has announced profits before tax of £3.5m for the year to the end of March, up from £1.3m in 2019, with a turnover of £297.1m.

The growth follows a strategic review that has seen Clancy refocus on long-term frameworks within water and energy, enabling the business to build a £1.3bn secure order book.

Within the water market, the financial year has coincided with the start of the new Asset Mangement Period in England – AMP7 – from 1 April. Clancy has extended or renewed all its existing frameworks with Thames Water, Anglian Water, Southern Water, South East Water and Sutton and East Surrey Water into the new AMP. Last month the business also announced it has secured a place on Thames Water’s capital framework for infrastructure works, which will run until 2025. In Scotland, Clancy is continuing its work with Scottish Water ahead of the new asset management period, SR21.

In the energy sector Clancy has been reappointed to UK Power Network’s ground-breaking ED1SON alliance for capital programmes in the capital, and has extended its partnership with Northern Powergrid to deliver repair and maintenance for the energy network in the North East.

The 2019 financial year also saw Clancy increase its work in capital projects including utility diversions to support HS2 and sustainable greenhouse projects in East Anglia with innovative developer Low Carbon Farming. Clancy has also continued to invest in new plant and traffic management services over the twelve months, including through the expansion of its Clancy Traffic division.

The year saw Clancy continue a managed exit of loss-making legacy contracts and progress towards the disposal of its multi-utility business which is expected to complete in the current financial year. The results for the year includes losses on discontinued business activities of £1.7m.

Stable income has enabled Clancy to establish a strong cash position, using a net cash inflow of £16.2 million over the year to cover the vast majority of its working capital needs – thereby operating with minimal debt or borrowing.

2019 saw a transition to the third generation of the Clancy family with Matt Cannon appointed as Chief Executive in February.

Matt Cannon, Chief Executive at Clancy said that the business focus on long-term, sustainable growth would stand it in good stead to withstand the current economic challenges posed by Covid-19:

“These results demonstrate the strength of our model as a business, building long-term, stable partnerships. The work of our teams in the last few months to maintain essential networks through the Covid-19 pandemic has demonstrated the resilience of the industry and the vital role that we play.

“Importantly, we remain a people business – focused on providing for the many families and communities that we support. Our direct delivery model, combined with a strong financial position, drives us to invest in skills and innovation that we need for the future.”

Kevin Clancy, Chairman, added:

“The fundamentals of our business rely on expertise within our markets and strong relationships – often going back decades. As a family business, our independence ensures we can focus on these core principles to deliver an exceptional service for clients and their own customers.

“At the end of last year we were shocked by the untimely death of our joint Chairman, my brother Dermot Clancy. Having spent his life working in the family business Dermot played a central role shaping the exceptional team and operations that we have in place today.”