Thursday, May 19, 2005

At John Laing plc’s (“John Laing”) AGM today, Bill Forrester will make the following statement:“The company continues to make excellent progress against a background of growing market opportunities, both in the UK and overseas.

Performance in our growing number of operational PFI/PPP projects is in line with expectations, with those at the construction stage generally progressing well.  

Chiltern Railways continues to perform to a high standard, benefiting from further improving train performance (92.6%PPM)  and a double digit increase in year to date passenger revenues.  New depot facilities at Wembley are expected to be completed shortly.

4 new PFI/PPP projects have reached financial close during 2005, and the number of project interests in the portfolio currently stands at 46, 10 projects more than at last year’s AGM.   A further 6 projects are expected to reach financial close during 2005.

Earlier this week we also reached financial close on a further 3 primary healthcare facilities as part of the Manchester, Salford & Trafford LIFT concession.  Such extensions to existing projects are increasing in importance, playing their part alongside portfolio growth as a result of winning new concessions put to the market by Government authorities.

These new project extensions and new projects reaching financial close in 2005 involve £420 million of gross capital investment with Laing’s equity commitment at £23.2m.

The opportunities for Laing to extend its portfolio of investments continue to grow in both the UK and Europe.

In Europe as a whole, the roads market is generating an increasing number of project opportunities and last week we were short listed for the Norwegian E18, which has an estimated contract value of £225 million . Our existing investment in the Norwegian market, the E39, is expected to become fully operational during the next quarter as construction is completed.   Further road bids are at shortlist or pre-qualification stage in the Finnish, German, Austrian and Irish markets.

Within the UK the General Election campaign evidenced a strong underlying consensus in relation to the need to continue to improve public services and to ensure that cost-effective investment meets emerging needs while redressing the consequences of past under-investment.  The re-elected Government is projecting an increase in public sector net investment over coming years, and the private financing of public sector assets is likely to play a significant role where the value for money case is proven.

In relation to the Great Eastern Hotel dispute, the outstanding issues have not yet been finalised.

John Laing is well placed to take advantage of these trends from its positioning in the market as a specialist listed investor, equipped to act as a developer of privately financed public sector infrastructure and an ongoing partner of public sector bodies. Given the strong growth in our markets and the continuing development of the company’s pipeline, we look forward to the future with confidence.”
 
(ENDS)

For further information please contact:

John Laing plc 
Andy Friend, Chief Executive
 020 7901 9200
Finsbury Group 
Edward Orlebar / Faeth Birch / Robin Walker
 020 7251 3801