MER Mears Group Plc

Mears Group PLC

("Mears", the "Group", or the "Company")

Trading Update

Strong trading performance

The Group has experienced strong trading in the first half of its 2024 financial year ('FY24') and expects profit before tax to be ahead of both the prior year and the Board's expectations. The strong first half performance has benefited from continued elevated revenues in its Management-led activities, further improvement in operating margins and strong cash generation. The Board expects the outturn for FY24 to be modestly ahead of current market expectations¹.

Lucas Critchley, Chief Executive Officer of the Group, commented:

"Trading in the first half has been excellent across the Group and this will be reflected in a strong set of interim numbers in August.  We have made good progress in the first-half, with a focus on developing and broadening the range of services we offer to clients. In addition, an increased operational focus, making fuller use of the Group's IT system capabilities, is resulting in operational and commercial improvements, and is reflected in the continued progress in operating margins."

Notice of results

The Group will announce its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2024 on Thursday 8 August 2024.

Note:

¹ The Board consider the current consensus analyst forecasts for FY24, prior to this announcement, to be revenues of £999m and profit before tax of £46.7m.

Certain information contained in this announcement would have constituted inside information (as defined by Article 7 of Regulation (EU) No 596/2014) ("MAR") prior to its release as part of this announcement and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of those Regulations.

About Mears

Mears is a leading provider of services to the Housing sector, providing a range of services to individuals within their homes. We manage and maintain around 450,000 homes across the UK and work predominantly with Central Government and Local Government, typically through long-term contracts. We equally consider the residents of the homes that we manage and maintain to be our customers, and we take pride in the high levels of customer satisfaction that we achieve.

Mears currently employs over 5,000 people and provides services in every region of the UK. In partnership with our Housing clients, we provide property management and maintenance services. Mears has extended its activities to provide broader housing solutions to solve the challenge posed by the lack of affordable housing and to provide accommodation and support for the most vulnerable.

We focus on long-term outcomes for people rather than short-term solutions and invest in innovations that have a positive impact on people's quality of life and on their communities' social, economic, and environmental wellbeing. Our innovative approaches and market leading positions are intended to create value for our customers and the people they serve while also driving sustainable financial returns for our providers of capital, especially our shareholders.

We focus on long-term outcomes for people rather than short-term solutions and invest in innovations that have a positive impact on people's quality of life and on their communities' social, economic, and environmental wellbeing. Our innovative approaches and market leading positions are intended to create value for our customers and the people they serve while also driving sustainable financial returns for our providers of capital, especially our shareholders.