Trading Update

Cambian Group PLC

 Full Year Trading Update and Return of Capital to Shareholders

Cambian Group PLC ('Cambian', 'the Group', 'the Company'), one of the UK's leading specialist education and behavioural health services providers, is pleased to announce a full year trading update prior to its Capital Markets Day later today and ahead of its results for the year ended 31 December 2017.

Full Year Trading Update

The Group's underlying trading for the year ended 31 December 2017 was in line with the Board's expectation.  Net cash at year-end was approximately £82 million and ahead of the Board's expectation. Cambian will announce its full year results on 21 March 2018.

Return of Capital

Following a review of the Company's capital requirements over the next three years, the Board is pleased to declare a further special dividend of 8.2 pence per Ordinary share. This equates to a further £15 million return of capital to shareholders and follows the £50 million return of capital completed in September 2017. The payment of 8.2 pence per Ordinary share will be made on 28 February 2018 to ordinary shareholders on the register on 9 February 2018. The ex-dividend date is 8 February 2018.  

Capital Markets Day

At its Capital Markets Day Cambian will today outline its vision to create a platform to change lives and create value. The Group's ambition is to increase revenues by a compound annual growth rate of more than 5% and increase its Adjusted EBITDA margin to more than 16% over the medium-term.  The Group anticipates investing around £85 million over the next three years in capital expenditure in order to increase capacity and create growth, enhance and upgrade existing facilities, and invest in its systems and IT.  The Capital Markets Day presentation will be available to view later today on the Company's website at www.cambiangroup.com/investors.

Current Trading

The Group's trading during January 2018 is in line with the Board's expectation.

Commenting on this announcement, Saleem Asaria, CEO of Cambian said:

"After a period of significant change at Cambian we are pleased to have the opportunity to outline the medium and long-term value creation opportunities that our business presents to our investors.  Cambian has the potential to add capacity and create growth in the coming years and in so doing build a platform across the UK that offers the highest standards of integrated care to our children.  We believe we can achieve life-changing results for the children who are entrusted to us and at the same time continue to create value for our investors."

Further Enquiries

About Cambian:

Cambian Group is one of the UK's leading children's specialist education and behavioural health service providers. Founded in 2004, it has grown to become a significant partner to the UK public sector. The Group's services have a specific focus on children who present high severity needs with challenging behaviours and complex care requirements. Cambian looks after 2,000 children and employs over 4,300 people across a portfolio of 224 residential facilities, specialist schools and fostering offices located in England and Wales.

No statement in this update is intended to be a profit forecast, and no statement in this update should be interpreted to mean that earnings per share of the Company for the current or future financial years would necessarily match or exceed the historical published earnings per share of the Company.