Warwickshire-based Rigby Group delivers record growth

Rigby Group (RG) plc, the Warwickshire-based parent company for a portfolio of family-owned, successful businesses operating across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, has achieved another record set of results for the financial year ending March 31st, 2019.

The Group comprises six core divisions: technology, airports, hotels, aviation, real estate and finance, and has made further strategic acquisitions and divestments in the past 12 months.

Technology is the largest part of the Group and its continued growth is driven by demand from businesses seeking outsourced and cost-effective solutions for cloud and digital services. Elsewhere, the airports division continues to be a significant contributor of profitability for the Group and further double-digit growth is expected in the current financial year.

The company has reported consolidated revenues from continuing operations at £2,771.7 million (an increase of increase of £398.3 million)

EBITDA (before exceptional items) for the continuing operations was £65.4 million (an increase of £6.7 million)

Sir Peter Rigby, Chairman and Chief Executive, said: “This is another strong set of financial results for the Group, which underlines our growth strategy. Increases in revenue and profitability have been achieved at a time when we have also continued to invest in our services, infrastructure, and most crucial of all, our people ensuring we are in a position to meet our future group objectives.”

SCC delivers IT to more than 2,500 customers in more than 50 countries, supporting five million users. It operates out of 75 locations in the UK, France, Romania and Spain. SCC delivered revenue growth of £322m to £2.15bn and EBITDAE of £46.6m (growth of £2m / 4%). Notable highlights included ongoing investment in expansion of its data centres, major investments in new HR, service management and ERP systems together with further M&A investments such as the acquisition of AVS.

Regional & City Airports (RCA) owns Bournemouth Airport, Coventry Airport, Exeter Airport and Norwich Airport, and operates Blackpool Airport, City of Derry Airport and Solent Airport Daedalus on behalf of their owners. Revenues reached £58.1m, an increase of £12.9m / 28.5% with EBITDAE growth of £9.8m to £17.3m. More than 200,000 sq. ft of new hangarage was acquired for clients in Exeter and Bournemouth as well as delivery of a new terminal expansion at Exeter. A major new hangarage development in Norwich was also secured. New carriers were secured for all airports.

The Eden Hotel Collection (“EHC”) is an award-winning luxury hotel brand within the UK. EHC currently owns or operates eight luxury hotels in the Midlands, the Cotswolds and South West with Bovey Castle Hotel in Devon the flagship hotel for the group.

It has consolidated revenues from continuing operations, £19.6m with EBITDA (before exceptional items) for the continuing operations, (£0.1m) loss.

The Aviation division provides a diverse range of services to the aviation sector through the operation of a fleet of fixed wing aircraft and helicopters.  The aviation business continued to operate its MOD missions in the UK and the Falklands, as well as undertaking hundreds of patient repatriation flights and maintained aircraft through its MRO operations.

It reported consolidated revenues from continuing operations, £20.5m, EBITDA (before exceptional items) for the continuing operations, (£0.8m) loss

Rigby Real Estate owns a diverse real estate portfolio with freehold properties, large scale commercial projects and bespoke residential developments. The Group has an active acquisition programme in place to continue the growth of the division across commercial land and residential property.

Highlights from the past year include securing outline consent for a 3.7m sq. ft. scheme in Coventry. The estate was 98% let in Bournemouth, where consent was also submitted for over 1m sq. ft. of new facilities. In Norwich, planning was submitted for 1m sq. ft. of development. The residential & yacht interior design part of the business was consolidated into Allect, with a healthy order book of over £50m across 50 worldwide projects.

It delivered consolidated revenues from continuing operations, £18.1m and EBITDA (before exceptional items) for the continuing operations, £0.4m.

Rigby Group’s financial division comprises Rigby Private Equity and technology finance leasing business Rigby Capital. The financial services division completed the year with its first private equity disposal of Fluidone. This business invested in during 2015, delivered a 2.1x return and 25% IRR. The investment in Nuvias continues with the business achieving revenues of £398m during the year. The organic investment in Rigby Capital continues to bear dividends with UK revenues of £84m and French revenues of €130m.

The financial division reported consolidated revenues from continuing operations at £508m, with EBITDA (before exceptional items) for the continuing operations, £7.1m.

Steven Rigby, Group Chief Operating Officer, said: “The past 12 months have been yet another period of successful growth and strategic achievement for the Rigby Group. Across our operations, we have witnessed key milestones which collectively have fed into yet another record set of financial metrics. We have made key acquisitions, as well as successful strategic divestments during the period. We will continue to look at further acquisitions if they add value to the Group. As we look to our current fiscal year, we have much to be optimistic about with ambitious plans across our six divisions and expect to maintain our strong growth trajectory.”