Recent newspaper reports of counter bid might have some merit. Lots of buys are a bit larger than usual uninformed punters.

M.

Final Results

Financial Summary

· Revenue growth of 4% (1% at constant currency), driven by the Hazardous Waste Division and UK Municipal.
· Underlying profit before tax up by 14% from that reported last year to £30.2m, due to exit from UK Solid Waste, with profit before tax on continuing businesses broadly flat.
· Ongoing investment in Cumbria and good progress in construction at BDR and Wakefield has led to 25% increase in Directors' valuation of PFI portfolio to £110m.
· Ongoing focus on capital discipline delivered strong cash performance with lower than expected core net debt at £156m and net debt to EBITDA reduced to 1.9x. Final dividend maintained at 2.35p per share, reflecting confidence in medium term growth.
· Total Group exceptional and non-trading charges of £22.5m, principally reflecting non-cash goodwill impairment, and a loss on discontinued operations of £30.0m, being the cash generative exit from UK Solid Waste, partially offset by provision releases.

Business Overview

· Outperformed the industry in markets that remain very challenging.
· Successfully achieved exit from loss-making UK Solid Waste business generating cash and refocusing the Group.
· Delivered profit growth in Solid Waste Benelux, our biggest division by revenue, for the first time in five years and ahead of any market recovery.
· Delivered underlying growth in Hazardous Waste, while generating high returns and actively investing for further growth.
· UK Municipal Division performing well, with key build programmes and Derby project making good progress.
· Organics municipal pipeline progressing in Canada, with promising long-term contract opportunities, while Organics in Europe increasingly challenged by market over-capacity.
· Repositioned Group with leadership in core markets and are executing our clear growth strategies for each division.

Outlook

Notwithstanding markets which are expected to continue to be challenging in the year ahead, the Board's expectations for 2014/15 remain unchanged. In the coming year we expect to deliver growth in our Hazardous Waste and UK Municipal divisions. Our Solid Waste Benelux division is likely to deliver a broadly similar performance as the benefits of cost reduction will be offset by continued market headwinds. In the Organics division the outlook is impacted by price pressure and our investment in bidding costs for Canadian expansion.

Longer term, the growth drivers in our business remain attractive. There is a clear and growing need for cost-effective and sustainable waste management which Shanks is uniquely placed to meet. As a result of our active portfolio management, we now have leadership positions in all our core markets with a clear strategy to deliver profitable growth and attractive returns in each division. Furthermore, by building a focused and lean business, we are well positioned to benefit from operational gearing when markets recover.

Goldman Sachs Buy 103.25 101.50 119.00 123.00 Upgrades

Derby City and Derbyshire PPP Contract

Shanks Group plc ('Shanks') is pleased to announce that Resource Recovery Solutions (Derbyshire) Ltd ('RRS'), a joint venture with Interserve Group plc, has agreed funding terms to begin the construction phase of the 27 year PPP contract with Derby City and Derbyshire County Councils which will generate total estimated revenues of £950m.

Pre-Close Trading Update

Pre-Close Trading Update

Shanks Group plc (LSE:SKS), the international waste-to-product business, today announces its pre-close trading update for the six months ending 30 September 2014, ahead of its interim results which will be released on 6 November 2014.

Peter Dilnot, Group Chief Executive, said:

"The underlying performance of our three growth divisions remains robust but market conditions in our Benelux Solid Waste business have deteriorated further over the summer and will impact our performance. We remain confident that the decisive action we are taking will enable the Group to deliver a stronger second half. Overall, the Board now anticipates that the Group's full year results will be around 15% below management's previous expectations. Longer term, the Group remains well-placed to deliver profitable growth as a result of our investments in Hazardous Waste and in our UK PFI construction programmes, and to benefit from a market recovery in the Benelux. "

Trading performance

Since our interim management statement, our Solid Waste Benelux division has faced market conditions which have deteriorated further, with weak volumes in particular in the Netherlands construction and demolition sector. The competitive environment remains intense, with market participants seeking to gain volumes by aggressive pricing in order to offset pressure on gate fees, lower volumes and prices of recyclates. We are broadly maintaining inbound volumes, albeit with an adverse mix. We also continue to implement our long term programmes in commercial effectiveness, procurement and continuous improvement.

Of the other three divisions, Hazardous Waste continues to invest in increased processing and storage capacity to drive sustainable growth in its ATM treatment facility. The new ESP unit to scrub exhaust gases from the soil plant has recently been commissioned and is working well. New water storage tanks are on track for completion by year end and we have broken ground on our new Theemsweg site in Rotterdam. However, one-off operational challenges prior to commissioning of the ESP will have some impact on first half performance and will likely result in a broadly flat year on year performance for Hazardous Waste.

Organics has had a good first half year. The successful renewal of a long-term contract with five municipalities in Flevoland has underpinned the future of the Biocel dry anaerobic digestion ("AD") facility. We are going to expand capacity at our Cumbernauld AD facility in Scotland to meet strong local demand. We are also ramping up volumes in our London, Ontario, facility and our bidding activities on two growth opportunities in Canada are proceeding well. Overall, the division is performing as expected.

UK Municipal has performed well in the first half. The construction projects at Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham ("BDR") and Wakefield remain on time and on budget, and we were delighted to secure funding for the £145m Derby project, where construction work has now commenced.

Cash and borrowings

Cash continues to be managed closely and is in line with our expectations. Net debt at the end of September 2014 is expected to be around £185m.

Outlook

Notwithstanding the market pressures in Benelux Solid Waste, our underlying strategy and direction of travel are sound and the Group remains well-placed to deliver profitable growth over the longer term. Our three growth divisions continue to perform robustly and they are delivering against their strategic objectives. We are continuing to invest significantly in Hazardous Waste and in our UK PFI infrastructure which will generate high quality earnings growth. We are also progressing well with two bids for long term organic contracts in Canada.

The Benelux Solid Waste markets are likely to remain challenging in the near term and will impact the Group's financial performance in 2014/15, although we are confident that the actions we are taking to address these market pressures will support a stronger second half. Overall, the Board anticipates that the Group's full year results will be around 15% below management's previous expectations.

StockMarketWire.com
Shanks Group (LSE: SKS), the international waste-to-product business, has announced its interim results for the six months ended 30 September 2014 which show that overall revenues at £304.8m were 6% lower than the same period last year.

Trading profit dropped by 30% to £18.1m.

The dividend is kept unchanged.

Peter Dilnot, group chief executive, said: "As previously reported, it has been a challenging six months for Shanks due to an increasingly difficult Benelux solid waste market. However, we are confident that the actions we are taking to address these market pressures and improve our operational efficiency will support a stronger second half and a full year result in line with our revised expectations.

"Our three growth divisions are continuing to deliver against their strategic objectives and the Group is well positioned to deliver profitable growth over the longer term from our portfolio of market leading businesses."

Interim Management Statement

StockMarketWire.com
Shanks Group has signed a binding agreement to acquire a hazardous waste treatment facility in Farmsum, Netherlands. The site was purchased from AB Civiel Beheer BV for 3.75m euros.

The site, a former production facility of Rohm and Haas, comprises six hectares of land and high quality operational assets, including water and waste storage tanks, a production hall and distillation tower.

It also has laboratories, offices, warehousing and railway access with indoor loading for trucks and trains as well as a further three undeveloped hectares of land. There are permits for a wide range of activities.

The site is close to Shanks' Reym North East regional headquarters at Veendam and its satellite locations that serve the onshore industrial cleaning market. The acquisition will bring immediate cost synergies with Shanks' nearby operations.

Trading Statement

Pre-Close Trading Update and New Divisional Structure

Shanks Group plc (LSE:SKS), the international waste-to-product business, today announces its pre-close trading update for the year ending 31 March 2015, ahead of its preliminary results which will be released on 21 May 2015, as well as a new divisional structure.

Peter Dilnot, Group Chief Executive, said: "Core markets remain challenging, but we expect to deliver a stronger underlying second half based on our active management of the business. We expect our trading performance for the year ended 31 March 2015 to be broadly in line with the Board's expectations, and our cash performance to be in line with our expectations. We are today announcing a reorganisation of our Group structure that will align our businesses more closely with our customers, deliver synergies and accelerate growth. Other than the translation impact of fluctuating currency rates on reported results, the Board's expectations for the coming year remain unchanged."

Trading performance

The trading performance across the Group has been broadly in line with the Board's expectations. Core markets, especially in solid waste, remain challenging but have recently stabilised and we expect to deliver a stronger underlying second half due to our continued active management of the business. Market pricing remains tight, with pockets of intense competition, and recyclate prices have continued to reduce. We have also experienced reduced off-take demand for our Solid Recovered Fuel ("SRF") in Belgium, resulting in less profitable outlets. On the positive side, the incinerator tax of €13 per ton has been implemented in the Netherlands from 1 January 2015, price increases to pass the effect of this tax on to the waste producers have been successful to date, and this is expected over time to be an incentive for them to recycle further.

During the period we have also made significant progress towards achieving our long term strategic objectives. Specifically:
· Our investment to increase capacity at our Hazardous Waste business remains on track. The new emissions equipment on the soil line is performing well, the water storage tanks are being commissioned for an April service introduction, and our new site at Theemsweg, Rotterdam is on schedule with the depot nearly complete;
· We have completed the roll out of our commercial effectiveness programme in Netherlands Solid Waste, targeting core markets and focusing on margin enhancement. The programme will commence in Belgium Solid Waste in the next quarter;
· In January 2015, we acquired an operational and fully permitted site at Farmsum in the north of the Netherlands for €3.7m to act as a Shanks Total Care centre for the northern region. We have moved onto the site and are already consolidating regional activities to deliver the planned cost synergies;
· In February 2015 we achieved financial close to design, build, own and operate one of Canada's largest green waste initiatives, the Surrey Organics Biofuel Processing Facility near Vancouver;
· The UK Municipal contracts for BDR (Barnsley/Doncaster/Rotherham) and Wakefield are both on schedule for full service commencement in 2015. First waste has been processed at BDR in the commissioning phase, delivering the first fuel intake to the Ferrybridge waste-to-energy plant.
We expect our results for the year ended 31 March 2015 to be broadly in line with expectations.

Non-trading and exceptional items

In addition to the non-trading and exceptional items announced at the half year, the Board expects to report further non-trading or exceptional items in the second half amounting to approximately £20m (of which a third is non-cash and a third relates to cash paid in the current year or to be paid within the next three years). Some of these items relate to the previously announced three year structural cost programme in Solid Waste Benelux that will complete by mid-2015. The most material new items are:
· The ongoing decline in long term government bond yields has required us to reduce the discount rate that we apply to long term provisions, such as for landfill aftercare. This will result in a one-off increase in the current carrying value of these provisions by c£5m;
· Non-cash impairment of operating assets in Gent of c£5m as a result of the challenges in the Belgian SRF market as described above;
· Net adjustment to onerous contract provisions in the UK and Belgium following the annual review process and reassessment of discount rate (c£3m); and
· One-off adjustment to historic revenue recognition in relation to life cycle accounting in UK Municipal (c£2m).

Cash and borrowings

Cash continues to be managed closely. Net debt at the end of March 2015 is anticipated to be line with our expectations at around £170m, benefitting from the weaker Euro.


New Divisional Structure

The Group is implementing a new divisional structure to align our businesses more closely with our customers, deliver synergies and accelerate growth. The Group will now be reorganised into the following three divisions: Commercial, Municipal and Hazardous.

The Organics division will no longer be a standalone business and will be incorporated within the Commercial and Municipal divisions:
· Our Benelux Solid Waste division will combine with the Netherlands and Belgium Organics business units to create a new Commercial Division, renamed to reflect its broader offering; and

· Our Canadian Organics business and the Orgaworld technical team will combine with the UK Municipal Division to create a new Municipal Division. In Canada, our business is centred on winning long-term contracts with municipalities in North America. This model is similar to the focus of our UK division, and there are synergies which will both accelerate growth and improve returns.

Our Hazardous Waste Division is unaffected by the new structure.

The Group will report its results for the year ended 31 March 2015 under the previous organisational structure and then report under the new structure going forward. The necessary historic financial information will be made available in both formats to ensure both transparency and clarity.

Outlook for the year ending 31 March 2016

Other than the translation impact of fluctuating currency rates on reported results, the Board's expectations for the coming year remain unchanged.

Final Results

Business Overview

· Challenging year, particularly in the first half, with market pressure in Benelux Solid Waste and one-off operational challenges in Hazardous Waste associated with new investment.
· Business improvement programmes have delivered a stronger underlying second half and positioned the Group well for future growth.
· Core Dutch solid waste markets beginning to improve.
· Achieved 'financial close' for long-term Municipal contracts in Derby, UK and Surrey, Canada.
· £200m build of plants in Wakefield and Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham (BDR) close to completion; both to commission this year.
· Continued investment through the cycle in Hazardous Waste in infrastructure that is expected to deliver sustainable high quality earnings.

Strategy and Divisional Structure

· Refined vision, strategy and organisational structure in order to ensure that they remain sharp, focused and relevant to our evolving markets.
· New divisional structure implemented to align our businesses more closely with our customers, deliver synergies and accelerate growth.

Financial Summary

· Performance in line with trading update issued on 31 March 2015, with second half improvement delivered.
· Revenue increased 1% at constant currency, with underlying growth from UK Municipal.
· EBITDA down 10% at constant currency to £73.0m.
· Underlying profit before tax down by 22% to £21.7m at constant currency.
· Underlying EPS down 7% at constant currency due to lower effective tax rate.
· Total Group exceptional and non-trading charges of £42.2m as previously disclosed.
· Ongoing focus on capital discipline delivered strong cash performance, with lower than expected core net debt at £155m and net debt to EBITDA ratio of 2.3x.
· Final dividend maintained at 2.35p per share, reflecting confidence in medium term growth.

StockMarketWire.com
Shanks Group said its trading performance has been in line with the board's expectations, which for the FY remain unchanged.

"We currently expect that the improved performance in Netherlands Commercial trading will offset the impact of market conditions in Hazardous and the delay in the full service commencement at the Wakefield facility," the company said in a statement.

The remainder of its pre-closing trading statement was as follows:

"Market conditions in the Netherlands have continued to show encouraging signs of improvement.

"The modest recovery in construction activity, together with higher recyclate income, firmer prices in the commercial segment as a result of the incinerator tax that was introduced in January 2015 and our own improvement programmes, have contributed to a steady recovery in our Commercial Division profitability.

"In contrast, trading conditions in Belgium remain challenging, due to the previously reported weakness in local offtake markets.

"In our Hazardous Division low oil prices continue to negatively impact on the oil and gas sector, which historically has generated around half of the Division's revenues.

"The result has been a reduction in industrial cleaning activity, and lower volumes of sludges for treatment. The soil market continues to perform in line with our expectations.

"Our Municipal Division has made good progress in the first half, entering full service on the new Barnsley, Doncaster & Rotherham (BDR) contract as planned in July 2015.

"At Wakefield, the recent bankruptcy of a major supplier has led to an unavoidable delay of approximately four months to full service commencement. This will have a resulting impact on second half trading profit in addition to liquidated damages and associated costs estimated at £5m that will be taken as an exceptional item.

CASH AND BORROWINGS
"Cash continues to be managed closely. Net debt at the end of September 2015 is anticipated to be in line with our expectations at below £200m.

StockMarketWire.com
Shanks said its trading performance has remained in line with the board's expectations following the last trading statement issued on Feb. 3.

Its overall expectations for FY 2017 remain unchanged.

"As a result of our strong ongoing focus on cash management, year-end core net debt was £195m, better than expectations after adjusting for the impact of the stronger Euro," it said.

"We received £26m of the £30m proceeds relating to the sale of our Wakefield subordinated debt and equity as announced on 3 February 2016: the remaining cash is expected to be received in the short term.

"We have also extended our net debt:EBITDA covenant on our core banking facilities at 3.5x for a further twelve months to September 2017 and reduced our Total Net Worth covenant to £175m.

"These amendments will provide additional flexibility as we complete the build phases on our Derby and Surrey PPP contracts and give further protection against currency fluctuation as we approach the EU Referendum.

"The loss on sale of our Wakefield PFI assets will be £5m better than previously announced at £5m due to movements in swap rates in the weeks prior to completion.

"Following previous announcements regarding the market pressures in our Municipal division, we shall account for the operating contract relating to our Cumbria PPP facilities as an onerous contract from 1 October 2015. This will result in an exceptional charge of up to £5m."

StockMarketWire.com
Shanks Group has substantially lessened its FY pretax loss to GBP3.9m, from a year-ago loss of GBP16.9m, with revenue ticking firmly higher to GBP613.8m, from GBP599.4m.

Total dividend was 3.45p a share, flat on the year, including a final dividend of 2.35p, unchanged.

CEO Peter Dilnot said the revenue and profit growth was despite tough macro markets.

"Our Commercial Waste Division returned to strong profit growth, our Hazardous Waste Division delivered a robust performance and our Municipal Division experienced market headwinds but commissioned two flagship assets," he said in a statement.

"Overall we remain well positioned to make progress and meet our expectations for 2016/17," he added.

HIGHLIGHTS:
* Commercial Waste Division delivered 18% trading profit growth, driven by self-help initiatives and stabilising markets.

* Hazardous Waste Division delivered robust performance, with 1% trading profit growth despite over half of its revenues coming from the oil and gas sector.

* Municipal Division performance impacted by market headwinds, with trading profit down 15%; successful commissioning of two flagship PFI facilities for long-term profit and cash generation.

* Continued progress with self-help initiatives across the Group to improve margins.

* Consistent strategy with increased focus on delivering returns from our existing assets across all our divisions.

* Ongoing active portfolio management to recycle capital and increase returns, including £30m sale of Wakefield PFI financial assets.

Credit Suisse today reaffirms its outperform investment rating on Shanks Group PLC (LON:SKS) and cut its price target to 95p (from 100p).

Response to recent press speculation
The Board of Shanks notes the recent press speculation and confirms that it is contemplating the possible acquisition of the Van Gansewinkel Groep BV, a leading privately-owned waste collection and recycling business in the Netherlands and Belgium ("Van Gansewinkel").

After a period of preliminary due diligence, Shanks will shortly be submitting an updated, indicative non-binding proposal to the Supervisory Board of Van Gansewinkel for consideration. Accordingly, there can be no certainty that any transaction will occur nor as to the terms of any transaction.

As the possible acquisition of Van Gansewinkel by Shanks has been deemed a reverse takeover by the FCA and Van Gansewinkel is not subject to a public disclosure regime, Shanks has requested a suspension of its shares in accordance with paragraph 5.6.6 of the Listing Rules.

A key part of Shanks' strategy is to actively manage the Group's portfolio to improve returns and accelerate growth through the disposal of non-core assets and/or the acquisition of value-enhancing businesses, particularly where strong synergies exist with existing Shanks businesses. Given the structure and conditions in the Benelux Solid Waste market, the Board believes that the acquisition of Van Gansewinkel has the potential to transform and enhance the Company's position in this market. The combination of the two businesses would create a leading player, with complementary strengths across all market sectors.

Given the strategic and commercial rationale for a combination of the businesses and potential synergies, the Board believes that it is in the best interests of shareholders to investigate the possible acquisition of Van Gansewinkel despite the resultant temporary suspension of the Company's shares.

Further to the announcement on 24 May 2016 regarding a possible transaction with VGG, a leading privately-owned waste collection and recycling business in the Netherlands and Belgium (together with its subsidiaries, the "VGG Group") (the "Proposed Merger"), the board of directors (the "Board") of Shanks is pleased to announce that it has entered into exclusive discussions with the Supervisory Board of VGG and VGG's two largest shareholders.

The non-binding terms of the Proposed Merger (the "Terms") contemplate that Shanks would acquire the entire share capital of VGG, free from any liens, charges or encumbrances for consideration of approximately €440 million on a debt-free cash-free basis. The consideration would be satisfied through:
· a cash consideration from Shanks of approximately €236 million, to be financed through new debt facilities for the Combined Group and an equity issue currently envisaged to be approximately £90 million1; and
· a share consideration with a current value (based on Shanks' closing share price of 81 pence per share on the business day immediately prior to the suspension of its listing (the "Suspension")) of up to €204 million.

Under the Terms, VGG shareholders would in aggregate receive initial value of approximately €510 million, comprising:
· €306 million in cash (inclusive of the underlying net cash in the VGG business); and
· new Shanks shares currently representing a pro forma ownership of the Combined Group of approximately 29%1, based on an enlarged issued share capital following completion of the transaction and the equity issue.2 VGG shareholders would therefore be able to participate in the future development of the Combined Group, including the realisation of significant potential synergies.

The new Shanks shares which would be issued to VGG Shareholders as consideration for the Proposed Merger would be subject to appropriate lock-up undertakings.

The Proposed Merger is conditional upon, inter alia, the satisfactory completion of mutual financial, commercial and legal due diligence, the negotiation of a sale and purchase agreement, financing, anti-trust clearance, conclusion of relevant works councils advice proceedings, and the approval of Shanks and VGG shareholders.

Re-admission of shares and name change
Further to the announcement made today regarding the completion of the merger with van Gansewinkel Groep B.V. ("VGG"), the Board of Shanks confirms that Shanks' ordinary shares were re-admitted to the premium listing segment of the Official List and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities this morning, 28 February 2017, at 8.00 a.m.

Following the successful completion of the merger and re-admission of its ordinary shares, the Group will be re-launching the combined business under a new brand, which will include re-naming the Company from Shanks Group plc to Renewi plc. It is expected that the change of name will be reflected on the London Stock Exchange and the ordinary shares will trade under the new ticker "RWI" on 1 March 2017.

Renewi is a leading waste-to-product company ideally positioned to be part of the solution to some of the main environmental problems facing society today: reducing waste, avoiding pollution, and preventing the unnecessary use of finite natural resources.

The new name, Renewi, reflects the heritage of the legacy companies, their complementary businesses and expertise, and their combined position at the centre of the circular economy. The name also highlights that innovation to develop new products and high quality secondary raw materials is very much part of Renewi's future.

Following the extensive planning that has been underway prior to completion, a new senior management team has been put in place to help ensure the integration of the businesses progresses seamlessly and at pace. The new Executive Committee can be found on www.renewi.com/management.