Rok and Mears ready to grab business

By Daily Mail Reporter
Updated: 03:46 EDT, 18 August 2010

Two of Connaught's rivals are hoping to profit from the council house maintenance firm's woes, as worried customers start looking for an alternative supplier.

Mears Group: Just one of the possible benefactors of Cannaught's failings

Rok and Mears both declared their interest in taking on some of Connaught's contracts, as the company struggles under a mountain of debt.

Garvis Snook, the boss of builder Rok, said: 'It would be true to say, as it would be for any company in the sector, that all of us have had conversations in recent weeks with a number of customers who are concerned that problems that Connaught is undergoing could leave them without supply.'

And Mears chief operating officer, David Myles, said he anticipated opportunities would arise as a result of Connaught's problems, but only when existing contracts come to an end. 'I think there are opportunities, absolutely,' Myles said.

Mears (up 10p at 259.75p) notched up a 42% rise in first-half pretax profits to £13.2m, while the interim dividend was hiked 19% to 1.9p.

Meanwhile, troubled Rok insisted there would be no further revelations as it seeks to draw a line under last week's revelations of 'serious failings' in financial controls in its plumbing division that led to the suspension of finance director, Ashley Martin. Rok was seeking to reassure investors as it announced a £3.8m pretax loss in the first-half, compared with a £6m profit a year ago.

The figures were hit by a £6.8m restructuring charge relating to the plumbing, heating and electrical division. This is the division responsible for last week's profits warning, after an internal review found it to be inflating the value of some contracts.

Rok (up 1.25p at 20.5p) paid an interim dividend of 0.5p a share, down from 0.75p last time.