A new leadership team was installed at Mitie at the end of 2016, with Phil Bentley joining from Cable & Wireless to replace Ruby McGregor-Smith as chief executive.
Since moving in, Mr Bentley's team has completed a strategic review, launched a new strategy (Beyond FM鈥o the Connected Workspace) and begun a 拢45m cost cutting drive (Project Helix).
The strategy involves introducing more technology into operations, from hand-held devices for capturing and recording data to using drones for pest control.
The reported operating loss of 拢42.9m (2016: 聽拢107.6m profit) is attributed to one-off accounting adjustments.
Group revenue was 拢2,140m, which was up 0.3% on the previous year, on an adjusted basis.
With numbers similarly adjusted to better compare like-with-like, operating profit fell by 拢13.2m to 拢82.0m (2016: 拢95.2m) due to lower gross margin (拢10.7m) and increased overheads (拢2.5m).
Mitie also took a 拢132.3m hit by quitting the domiciliary healthcare market.
Chief executive Phil Bentley said: 鈥淭his has been a challenging year for Mitie. We have reported a loss as a result of the one-off accounting adjustments arising from the Accounting Review. We are now focused on the future of the business and I am encouraged that our order book has held up and our pipeline is growing.鈥�
Mitie鈥檚 property management division made an operating loss of 拢4.5m 鈥榖efore other items鈥� on revenue of 拢257.6m. The engineering services division made an operating profit of 拢200,000, before taking into account 鈥榦ther items鈥�, on revenue of 拢797.4m.
In the results statement, the board said: 鈥淥ver the next 12 months, our focus is on getting the basics right. The business is embarking on a multi-year transformation programme, designed to standardise and simplify our operations to deliver the most efficient and effective service, at the lowest cost to our clients.
鈥淭his will begin with the integration of our core workforce, to create a highly flexible and skilled team with the optimal support systems. We will automate work flow management for scheduling, tasking and billing. Our engineers will have the necessary training and tools to operate in the safest and most effective manner and deliver the highest quality of service for our customers.
鈥淟onger term, our vision is to use technology to link outputs to the Connected Workspace, providing the most responsive and valued service in the market. By using a combination of existing building systems and environment sensors, along with energy data, asset data, and workplace data, we will provide tailored solutions to suit each client's unique requirements.鈥�
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