One of the UK’s leading specialist waste management business Augean (LON:AUG ) said it has been notified that HMRC will be repaying £1.6 million of Landfill Tax to the group.
The £1.6 million figure relates to a single biomass customer and is part of £40.4 million of disputed landfill tax assessments which the Group paid in full back in December 2019.
Augean will seek interest and costs from HMRC in addition to the repayment which will be treated as an exceptional profit in the group’s results for the year to 31 December 2020.
It now awaits the decision of another more significant element worth around £16m of the disputed Landfill Tax from the First Tier Tax Tribunal which was heard in September 2020.
Shares in Augean have increased 11% in the past month and were trading 4.44% higher this morning at 200p following the announcement.
“The Group is pleased to have received notification of HMRC's repayment. Nonetheless it is disappointing that the process with regard to this small element of the overall claim has taken more than three years to reach the right outcome,” said Executive Chairman, Jim Meredith.
In its half year report from last month, Augean said it had delivered a robust performance across all areas of the business despite significant headwinds in quarter two for H1 in 2020.
The group reported a cash generation of £10.5m with net debt of £3.3m. It is now targeting growth in the Energy from Waste market and said it expects a pickup in construction soils.
Full year 2020 profit is expected to be more weighted to the second half than would be typical. The Board said it expects results broadly in line with market expectations for the full year assuming no impact of any further Covid-19 lockdown in the second half of the year.
For more news and updates on Augean: