18 February 2011 | Luca Del Buono
Carbon, Climate Change, Finance/insurance, Europe, North America

 

Climate change consultant AEA Technology, which has operations in the European Union and the United States, has sought to allay investor fears that it is in trouble.

The listed firm’s shares fell 5% on the London Stock Exchange on February 15, after its strategic review statement disclosed 80 job cuts and “disappointing” performance in the EU due to the UK government spending cuts and procurement contract delays.

In late Friday trades, the stock rebounded to £4.61 from the intra-week low of £4, but still down almost 8% from £5, the level at which it opened this week.

An AEAT spokesperson told Climate Action that the technical, energy and sustainability consultancy is strengthening its expertise in areas of growth such as water and economics as well as leveraging the group’s UK technical strength into the significant US federal market.

Despite “significant cost reduction exercises in the European business”, AEAT said it will continue to “actively recruit people” to respond to market demand. “We will be running a graduate recruitment programme this year as normal,” the spokesperson said.

It may be recalled that the second annual ‘Carbon Salary Survey’ conducted by sustainability recruitment specialists Acre Resources and corporate responsibility consultancy Acona found that salaries for UK workers in the environmental sector rose 4% in 2010, in contrast to below-inflation rise of just 2.1% for other UK industries.

The UK represented 32 per cent of the global ‘green’ businesses that took part in the survey. The survey was interpreted by industry as sign that the global recession has had relatively little impact on employment conditions within the carbon sector. According to Acona, interest in the area from public, private and third sectors remains strong.

But AEAT said it is likely to report “disappointing” figures around the lower end of market expectations for 2010-11. The company expressed confidence, however, that its business is strongly positioned for 2011-12 on the back of good performance from US operations.

It expects the 80 job cuts will deliver annualised cost savings of over £3 million, helping it to withstand pricing pressures in the tough UK market and restructure its European business.

Image: Will Hale | Flickr

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