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Listed on the AIM Market on the 28th Of October 2016

The company is into infrastructure work for roads and railways.

It crossed my radar when a my builder asked me if I had heard of them, as he had had a conversation with a third party saying they were going places. (he does not do shares so was not ramping it to me)

I did some research and thought "Well the government are into infrastructure spending so maybe worth a punt."

This is hardly sexy stuff, pushing Piles into the ground, but I dipped my bread at 101 and expected to regret this impulse buy. However so far there appears to be others thinking the same. Not on the radar of the various BBs that I can find so other than my builder not being talked up. (Till now by me.)

Proceed with caution

One thing I had failed to note until last night was the results of the voting at the AGM on 12/9/17. Discord evident in the voting so maybe yesterday's news has been coming for while.

Better turnover and profits to come, no profit warning or nonsense. The one division clearly needs some improvement, but the others are performing very well and more than compensate.


Half-year trading update

Van Elle, the geotechnical engineering contractor offering a wide range of ground engineering techniques and services to customers in a variety of UK construction end markets, is issuing the following trading update ahead of announcing its interim results for the six months ended 31 October 2017 on 25 January 2018.

Overall trading in the first half of the financial year has been positive and the Board expects to report turnover of approximately £53m (H1 2016: £43.1m) with underlying profit before taxation increasing by approximately 15% (H1 2016: £4.7m).

The General Piling division has performed strongly in the period, benefitting from an enlarged range of rigs and techniques. Divisional revenues have increased against the comparative period last year, with further operational efficiencies in delivery resulting in good profit growth.

In Ground Engineering Products, the Group's proprietary Smartfoot® foundation system continues to gain share in the market and operating performance in the period reflects the benefits of the expanded manufacturing capacity.

Ground Engineering Services' revenues have also been encouraging. The division has seen strong growth from the recently established Scottish business, which has enabled the Group to increase its activity in this region significantly, albeit overall margins have been impacted by remedial works carried out in the Ground Stabilisation operating unit.

Performance in the Specialist Piling division has been more mixed, with market and operating conditions in the Group's rail business remaining challenging in the first quarter, as indicated in the trading update on 12 September 2017. Whilst rail turnover growth has been reasonable, the commercial parameters in two specific electrification contracts have resulted in a dilution to gross margin, with a result that divisional profit will be below that in the comparative period. Pleasingly, margin performance has improved consistently during the second quarter and expectations for the second half are for a return to satisfactory levels.

Cash performance in the half has been good, with the strong operating cash flow generated. The Group has also continued to invest, acquiring nine new rigs which will enhance its service offering.

The Group has a seasonal weighting towards a stronger second half and the Board expects this will be the case again in the current year. As the Group enters H2, enquiry levels are encouraging and the current order book as at November remains strong. The Board continues to monitor market conditions closely and whilst mindful that the Group is subject to clients' decisions regarding contract call-off timing, its expectations for the full year remain unchanged.

I think some must be Piling IN, has gone to 87.25

It's an interesting watch this one. Great bun fight. Avoid for now!!

StockMarketWire.com
Van Elle Holdings has urged its shareholders to reject resolutions proposed by company founder Mike Ellis that would give him more control of its board.

A board of eight directors envisaged by Ellis would include himself, his son-in-law and the three unnamed non-executive directors the he had selected, the company claimed.

"The board believes this board composition could allow the Ellis family to exert significant influence over the conduct of the board in the future," it said.

Van Elle also said that it rejected Ellis's claim that the company was "going backward".

"The group has a seasonal weighting towards a stronger second half and the board expects this will be the case again in the current year," the company said.

StockMarketWire.com
Van Elle Holdings said it was still owed outstanding payments by Carillion and that its collapse could have an adverse financial impact on the company.

Van Elle confirmed that it carried out regular work for Carillion as a specialist lead sub-contractor, principally in respect of rail improvement and maintenance work where Network Rail was the end customer.

The company said it successfully undertook several contracts for Carillion during December in respect of which, payment has been applied for but not yet been received.

Work continued on some of those contracts into January 2018, it added.

"As a result, Van Elle's outstanding debt and work-in-progress exposure with Carillion is approximately £1.6m," Van Elle said.

"The group will engage with Carillion and its advisers, including the official receiver, to determine the status of outstanding payments, but shareholders should note that, in the event that Van Elle is unable to recover any monies owed, there would be an adverse financial impact on the group."

Van Elle's order book included further expected work with Carillion for the remainder of the current financial year and beyond. In total, it represented approximately £2.5m of anticipated revenue for the second half of the current year.

"It is too early to say whether there will be any effect on the commencement or completion dates of contracted work with Carillion, or what impact these developments will have on future work programmes, either in the rail sector or elsewhere, but the group will monitor the situation closely and make further announcements as necessary, the company said.

22march i gave a warning, have been involved in the type of business in the past
& main contractors failing. BB

Finncap comment today:
This uncertainty adds to the difficulties Van Elle has already been experiencing. We now feel the overall level of risk is insufficient to offset the apparent low valuation and move from Buy to Hold. We have downgraded our FY 2018E PBT by £2.9m (24% downgrade) and then assume growth from this base.
Downgraded due to uncertainty. We have downgraded FY 2018E PBT by £1.6m assuming the outstanding debt is not paid and by £1.3m assuming lost profit from planned work for Carillion in H2. Our assumed £1.3m H2 hit represents 50% of the planned H2 revenue and could be derived from either a total loss of the £2.5m revenue but some associated cost savings (group gross profit margin is 35%) or a lower level of work being completed.
There is now significant uncertainty on forecasts. In this context we believe a FY 2018E P/E of 9x and dividend yield 4% is reasonable, setting an 80p price target."

StockMarketWire.com
Van Elle grew its revenue by 22.1% to £52.6m in the six months ended 31 October 2017, but warned the collapse of Carillion will impact its ability to achieve its previous expectations for the full year.

Underlying profit before tax rose by 15.4% to £5.4m in the first half, while underlying EBITDA increased by 18.7% to £8.4m.

But Jon Fenton, chief executive, warned that the recent collapse of Carillion will have an impact on the business.

Van Elle carried out regular work for Carillion as a specialist lead sub-contractor, principally in respect of rail improvement and maintenance work.

Its outstanding debt and work-in-progress exposure with Carillion is approximately £1.6m.

It has also identified approximately £2.5m of anticipated revenue for the second half of the current year which related to work with Carillion.

"Whilst the group is continuing to engage with the Official Receiver in respect of this outstanding balance, it is now expected that we may recognise an exceptional bad debt charge of approximately £1.6m in its full year results. All of this debt arose after 31 October 2017.

"We have also had constructive dialogue with both the Official Receiver and Network Rail in respect of the £2.5m of anticipated revenue and whilst it is possible that some of the anticipated contracts may be delivered in the current year, the status and timing of specific programmes remains uncertain.

"Van Elle would typically expect to achieve good margins on rail-related work and therefore these anticipated contracts are material in the context of the group's financial results.

"The board believes it is prudent at this stage to recognise that the disruption to the expected order book due to the situation at Carillion will impact the group's ability to achieve its previous expectations for the year as a whole."

Peel Hunt today reaffirms its buy investment rating on Van Elle Holdings Plc (LON:VANL) and cut its price target to 120p (from 140p).

StockMarketWire.com
Van Elle, the geotechnical contractor, expects modest year-on-year revenue growth in the second half against a strong comparative period last year.

Following a good overall performance in the first half, adverse weather contributed to more challenging market conditions since January.

Van Elle has agreed terms to recommence work on some Carillion contracts during the fourth quarter, although this is only expected to have a limited financial benefit in the year to 30 April 2018.

Notwithstanding the Carillion situation, the rail operating unit has enjoyed a strong second half. Combined with a solid performance from restricted access, this led to an encouraging performance in the specialist piling division in the second half.

Having reported a very strong first half performance, revenues and margins in the general piling division have been lower in the second half reflecting the slightly slower market.

The ground engineering services division had a challenging second half, reflecting lost productive time and contract delays resulting from severe weather and a loss-making contract in the ground stabilisation business unit.

The group now anticipates reporting a lower than previously expected exceptional bad debt charge of approximately £1 million (rather than £1.6 million).

The board currently expects to report overall adjusted profit before tax for the year ended 30 April 2018 of approximately £10.5 million.

Van Elle has also announced that Mark Cutler will join the board and succeed Jon Fenton as chief executive officer no later than October 2018.

Cutler, aged 49, joins Van Elle from Balfour Beatty where he was previously managing director of the UK regional construction and engineering businesses and recently managing director of the Balfour Beatty VINCI joint venture, with responsibility for the High Speed 2 programme.

Fenton informed the board in November that due to a serious medical matter within his close family, he wished to step down and he will be leaving the company on 18 May 8. The company has engaged Stephen Christopher Prendergast, aged 62, in the role of acting chief executive officer, reporting into the board.

Peel Hunt today reaffirms its buy investment rating on Van Elle Holdings Plc (LON:VANL) and cut its price target to 110p (from 120p)

I'm hearing this is one to "watch"...

StockMarketWire.com
Geotechnical engineering Van Elle said it expected its first-half profit to almost halve, due to subdued demand in the UK, though it said market conditions had improved in the second quarter.

Underlying pre-tax profit for the six months through October was expected to fall to £2.8m, down from £5.4m on-year.

Revenue was expected to fall to around £43.0m, down from £52.6m on-year.

'The first quarter of the current year was relatively quiet as a result of subdued UK market conditions following a challenging period for the UK construction markets in early 2018,' the company said.

'As anticipated, market conditions have been more supportive in the second quarter and new contract starts have progressively gained momentum.'

Peel Hunt today downgrades its investment rating on Van Elle Holdings Plc (LON:VANL) to hold (from buy) and cut its price target to 65p (from 100p).

Interim results for the six months ended 31 October 2018

Summary highlights
· Trading in H1 was in line with revised expectations at £42.9m (H1 2018: £52.6m) and reflected the quiet first quarter

· Underlying operating profit reduced 47.4% to £3.0m (H1 2018: £5.7m), largely reflecting lower overhead recovery despite gross margins improving slightly to 32.8% (H1 2018: 31.7%)

· The new CEO, Mark Cutler, joined in August 2018 and has implemented a full review of the business as part of a three-phase transformation programme. Steps already taken include:

o simplification of the divisional structure and associated overhead improvements

o strategic customer engagement

o initial improvements to operational project delivery and work winning performance

o initial strengthening of the leadership team with two key senior appointments, being John Foster as Commercial Director and Peter Handley as Business Improvement Director

· Good cash performance with net debt of £5.6m (H1 2018: £4.6m) reduced from the year end position, (FY 2018: £5.9m)

· An interim dividend of 1.0 pence per share (H1 2018: 1.4 pence per share), reflecting first half performance and outlook for the Group

Current trading and outlook
· Contract margin performance in the General Piling division during the third quarter has been weaker than anticipated:

o The causes have been identified and action taken to resolve the issues, including a change of divisional management

o Poor profitability in Q3 but expected to return to normal margin levels by the start of Q4

· The Company saw strong demand for its Specialist Services division over the Christmas period, particularly in the rail sector, however several contracts across the Group have had contract start dates delayed in December and January

o The Orderbook at the start of January 2019 is at similar levels to last year and, based on current enquiry levels and order conversion rates, the Board continues to expect Q4 activity to be strong;

o In light of the delays to contract start dates experienced in Q3, the Board has re-assessed workload forecasts for H2 and believes it is prudent to reduce its revenue expectation for the current year

· Despite these setbacks in Q3, the Board continues to expect the Group to deliver a stronger performance in H2 than H1 albeit for the reasons set out above, this will still result in a full year performance significantly below its previous expectations

· Longer term the board remains positive regarding sustainable, profitable growth.

Mark Cutler, Chief Executive, commented:
"First half results were in line with our revised expectations and reflected the improved performance in the second quarter after a quiet start to the year.

"This is a transitional year for the business and since my arrival in August 2018, I have been undertaking a full review of the business. As part of this process I have been taking action to refine the Group's commercial approach, streamline operations, strengthen the leadership team and re-focus on our key customers. This is already creating a strong platform from which to pursue our growth strategy.

"The third quarter has been more challenging than we anticipated, with a disappointing performance in General Piling and several project delays. As a result and despite good momentum being carried in from the first half, we don't believe we will be able to deliver the significant step up in performance during the second half that we anticipated at the time of our trading statement in December 2018.

"These challenges have been frustrating, but it is pleasing to see outlook for the final quarter remaining robust and with a strong pipeline of target projects providing good forward visibility.

"Whilst we are mindful of the wider market environment, we are confident that the initiatives we are taking will develop a strong platform for future strong, profitable growth."