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Preliminary results for the 52 weeks ended 30 March 2007

12th June 2007

Well Placed In A Developing Market

Financial Highlights

• Revenues at £742.7 million (2005/06: £712.3 million1), 6.3% 2 organic growth
  
• Operating profit at £90.7 million (2005/06: £86.3 million1), 7.0 % 2 organic growth
  
• Free cash flow 3 up by 17% to £40.0 million
  
• Proforma adjusted EPS 4 of 14.1p (Basic EPS 4 of 1.6p)
  
• Final dividend of 4.2 pence. Total dividend for year of 6.3 pence
  
  
  Operational Highlights
  
  
• Successful demerger from Severn Trent and now a well established FTSE 250 company
  
• Strong profit growth achieved from Landfill through optimising balance between capacity and demand, with good performances from Special Waste and Power Generation
  
• Excellent growth maintained in our national account business
  
• New strategy adopted to improve local customer retention levels in our Collection business
  
• Business well positioned for the changing structure of the waste market
  
  
  Martin Bettington, Chief Executive Officer of Biffa Plc commented:
  
  "Following strong growth last year, we expect growth at more modest levels from our Resource Recovery and Landfill division in the current year. We envisage further growth in our national account Collection business and an improved performance from our integrated municipal contract with Leicester City Council. The local account sector of the Collection market is likely to remain highly competitive. We have implemented a revised pricing strategy and customer service initiatives in order to strengthen our position in this sector. The benefit of these actions will take time to come through and as a result we anticipate that full year performance in the Collection division will be in line with the prior year. For the Group as a whole, we expect steady progress in the current year.
  
  Our markets are entering a period of considerable change. We look forward to this and are confident that our robust business model gives us an excellent platform to capitalise on the opportunities that this change will create and to deliver continued growth into the medium term."
  
  
  Notes:
  
  1 Comparative values for 2005/06 have been stated at reported values.
  
  2 The 2005/06 financial year comprised 53 weeks. Growth comparisons between 2006/07 and 2005/06 revenue and operating profit have been made on a 52 weeks basis to ensure comparability
  
  3 Free cash flow is defined as the net cash generated from operating activities plus the proceeds from the sale of property, plant and equipment, less any capital expenditure and excluding any special pension funding contributions.
  
  4 Proforma adjusted earnings per share are calculated by dividing adjusted earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue since demerger to 30 March 2007. Adjusted earnings have been presented to eliminate the effects of prior year tax credits. Basic EPS is calculated by dividing earnings attributable to ordinary shareholders by the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue during the year.