Highlights
Financial Summary
| 2004 | 2003 | Change | |
| Turnover including joint ventures and associates | £4,171m | £3,678m | 13% |
| Pre-tax profit - before goodwill charges and exceptionals - after goodwill charges and exceptionals | £150m £257m | £130m £118m | 15% 118% |
| Earnings per share - adjusted* - basic | 23.4p 43.8p | 20.6p 16.9p | 14% |
| Financing - net cash before PPP subsidiaries - net borrowings of PPP subsidiaries (non-recourse) | £311m £(244)m | £127m £(3)m | +£184m |
* before goodwill charges, exceptional items and the premium arising on buy-back of preference shares
“We made further sound progress in 2004. Once again, we were able to both improve our profits and earnings and take important actions in developing the platform for the Group’s future growth. Operating cash flow was, again, strong. We have leading positions in a number of long-term growth markets which continue to offer us encouragement and opportunity. We expect to make further progress in 2005 and to maintain our momentum thereafter.”
| Sir David John, Chairman | Ian Tyler, Chief Executive |
View the full Preliminary Results 2004 (PDF, 912 KB)
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