The Board of Berendsen plc ("The Group") issues the following statement before entering its close period for the year ending 31 December 2012. The Group will announce its full year 2012 results on 1 March 2013.
Since our Interim Management Statement of 26 October 2012, the Group has continued to trade in line with expectations. Revenue from our Core Growth businesses for the 11 months ended 30 November 2012 remained ahead of the comparable period last year by 3% on an underlying basis. For the Group as a whole, underlying revenue is up 2% but down slightly on a reported basis due mostly to foreign currency exchange. We have again improved our operating margin and delivered good growth in adjusted profit before tax.
The trading trends we experienced in the first nine months of the year have continued into the fourth quarter in each of our business lines. Our higher margin Facility business continued to deliver revenue growth in excess of Group average and in November 2012 we acquired Groene Team B.V., the washroom and mat activities of ISS in the Netherlands, which has revenues of £14 million. The transaction builds on the commercial partnership with ISS and the previous successful acquisitions of their mat and washroom businesses in Scandinavia.
Our free cash flow has been strong and we expect to deliver in excess of £100 million in 2012, well above our target of 100% conversion of our adjusted profit after tax, resulting in a reduction in net debt, notwithstanding the acquisitions we have made.
The Board expects to report good year on year progress for the full year 2012.
