Jason Ford

Atkins announces fall in pre-tax profit

News

Atkins, the UK’s largest engineering and design consultancy, has reported pre-tax profit of £96.6m − an annual fall of almost six per cent.

Operating profits for the year ending 31 March 2010 were up 9.6 per cent as the firm cut staff numbers by 13.4 per cent.

But the company said increased pension costs and lower returns on its financial assets led to the 5.9 per cent drop in pre-tax profit.

The firm’s recommended dividend for the year is 27.5p − an increase of 5.8 per cent on 2009.

‘These are good results in a tough economic environment,’ chief executive officer Keith Clarke told reporters during a conference call. ‘We believe they demonstrate the resilience of growing good engineering skills.’

Clarke said the company, which operates in a variety of sectors including aerospace, construction, energy and transport, had improved performance across the board rather than relying on specific contracts.

‘We are still investing and will continue to invest in low-carbon tools, staff training, staff development, and developing niche technical skills that we put into our portfolio,’ he said.

Register now to continue reading

Thanks for visiting The Engineer. You’ve now reached your monthly limit of news stories. Register for free to unlock unlimited access to all of our news coverage, as well as premium content including opinion, in-depth features and special reports.  

Benefits of registering

  • In-depth insights and coverage of key emerging trends

  • Unrestricted access to special reports throughout the year

  • Daily technology news delivered straight to your inbox

Register
Or continue by

Signing in with your registered email address