Stobart Group Limited Revenue growth of 21.4% to £151.3m

Stobart Group Limited (LON:STOB), the Aviation, Energy, Rail & Civils, Investments and Infrastructure business, today announced its interim results for the six months to 31 August 2018.

Stobart has made strong commercial progress during the period in its core operating businesses. Stobart Aviation and Stobart Energy are both well-invested and set for significant growth. The Group has also moved quickly to advance the steps it outlined following the AGM to strengthen the commercial management and governance of the group.

Financial Highlights

· Revenue growth of 21.4% to £151.3m

· Pro forma underlying EBITDA1 in our two major growth divisions have increased to £24.4m; Aviation +14.6% and Energy +88.8%

· Loss for the period after taxation £17.5m (2017: £111.9m profit, which included £123.8m profit on disposal of associate)

· Returned £34.7m to shareholders, including dividends paid in the period of £31.3m (2017: £26.4m)

· Net debt has increased to £75.6m (2017: £36.6m)

Financial Summary

The 2017 profit included £123.8m received from the partial disposal of Eddie Stobart Logistics. The 2018 loss includes the investment in London Southend Airport route development and marketing of £18.0m (2017: £9.1m).

1 Underlying EBITDA represents profit/(loss) before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, swaps, non-underlying items. Refer to note 3 for reconciliation to profit/(loss) before tax. The Group has defined and outlined the purpose of its alternative performance measures, in the Glossary in note 14.

Aviation – accelerating passenger growth

· Pro forma underlying Aviation EBITDA1 increased 14.6% to £15.7 million (2017: £13.6m)

· Aviation EBITDA loss of £2.7m (£2017: £3.6m profit) including £18.1m (2017: £9.0m) relating to UK Flybe franchise operation (UKFFO)

· London Southend Airport passengers up 37% to 838,742 (2017: 610,492)

· Milestone five-year agreement with Ryanair at London Southend Airport – additional one million passengers expected in the first year of operations

· easyJet based a fourth aircraft at the airport, adding three new routes; it now flies to over 20 destinations from London Southend

· Stobart Jet Centre delivered 1,000 movements since re-launch in January 2018

· Stobart Air accelerated route development, marketing, brand and customer awareness at LSA, with net investment of £18.0m (2017: £9.1m). This investment is expected to be significantly reduced next year

· Stobart Aviation Services secured a significant ground handling contract with easyJet at London Stansted Airport

Energy – significantly increasing tonnage

· Pro forma underlying Energy EBITDA1 increased 88.8% to £8.7 million (2017: £4.6m)

· Energy EBITDA of £6.5m (2017: 2.5m)

· 657,950 tonnes sold – up 71.9% (2017: 382,775)

· Underlying EBITDA per tonne increased by 9.8% to £13.19 (2017: £12.01)

· Year on year improvement driven by customer mix, benefits of increased volume and tight cost control

Rail & Civils – project reviews and focus on contract quality

· Appointment of new commercial team strengthened management, with the division undertaking a detailed review of its commercial operations, contracts and project finances

· Management team now placing more focus on contract quality and securing contracts with external tier one customers

· Rail & Civils EBITDA loss of £4.8m (2017: £1.4m profit)

Strengthened commercial management and governance

· Strengthened Board with appointments of Nick Dilworth as Chief Operating Officer and Ginny Pulbrook as Non-Executive Director

· Appointed Interim Chief Financial Officer, Michael Williamson

· Selected leading independent search firm, Russell Reynolds, to identify additional Board appointments

· Appointed Alice Mayhew, a senior employment barrister at Devereux Chambers, to carry out an independent investigation into the concerns raised by certain employees regarding alleged bullying and whistleblowing. This investigation was completed on 18 October 2018 and concluded that there is no culture of bullying within Stobart Group. Interviewees did not report having been bullied or subjected to undue pressure or having witnessed bullying or undue pressure being placed on others. The report made recommendations, and the Company is currently reviewing how best to incorporate these

Warwick Brady, Chief Executive Officer, Stobart Group, commented

“We have remained focused on operational progress in our Aviation and Energy divisions, which have both performed well in the period.

Having invested in the infrastructure for these divisions, we are now well placed to accelerate our commercial growth plans and demonstrate the value of the Group’s excellent operating businesses.”

A presentation for analysts will be held today at 9.30am at Redleaf Communications, Sky Light City Tower, 50 Basinghall Street, London, EC2V 5DE. Email [email protected] to confirm your attendance.