WS Atkins share price rises on sale of Polish business to Multiconsult
The share price of WS Atkins was boosted yesterday after the engineering, design and project management company announced it would sell its Polish business to Norwegian consultancy and design business Multiconsult AS.
The deal will see WS Atkins’ Polish business sold for a cash consideration of €3.5m (£2.8m), with the deal expected to be completed by September 2014.
WS Atkins Polish business currently employs 77 people, and had revenue of £5m in the year to 31 March 2014.
Professor Dr Uwe Krueger, chief executive officer at WS Atkins, said: “The sale of our Polish business is a further step forward in the implementation of our strategy to optimise our portfolio of businesses, and focus our investment in markets where the Group can deliver profitable growth”.
WS Atkins, founded in 1938 and whose variety of private and public sector clients have included BP, Crossrail and Transport for London, saw overall group profits before tax of £106.4m in the year to 31 March, up 7.3 per cent.
The company has been pursing a strategy of portfolio optimisation and the sale of non-core businesses.
Shares closed up 1.12 per cent.yesterday at 1,357p.