USC to pay fully franked final dividend

13 September 2001

HIGHLIGHTS

*Record profit before tax of $47.4m
*Final dividend declared of 2 cents per share fully franked bringing total dividends for the year to 9 cents per share
*Acquisitions of Opticon and Gibson Quai
*Over 9 million shares acquired on market through the share buy-back program
*Net asset backing per share (at book) of 68 cents
*Net asset backing per share (at estimated realizable value) in excess of 95 cents

COMMENTS FROM THE EXECUTIVE CHAIRMAN

The 2001 year was very successful for Utility Services Corporation Limited (USC). The main business activity of MITS (the systems integration business) was sold during the year for $89 million
realizing a profit of approximately $47 million before tax. This amount
does not include the value of a six year resource agreement with the
purchaser, Logica, for the provision of discounted professional
consulting services or the retention of certain intellectual property
rights which have a combined estimated value of $20 million.

As a result of the sale, USC is restructuring its activities into three
business streams being -
Utility Group, e-Business Group and Technology Investments. USC has cash
reserves of over $50 million after repaying debt ($10 million), the
share buy-back ($6 million) and dividends paid ($7 million) and is
actively pursuing acquisition and investment opportunities.

A summary of the result is set out below:

	Total Revenues	Operating profit before tax	Income tax attributable to operating profit	Operating profit after income tax
June 2001 $m	143.7	47.4	(5.0)	42.4
June 2000 $m	79.5	4.0	(0.2)	3.8

Dividends

USC has declared a final 2 cent fully franked dividend payable on 31
October 2001. The record date for payment of the final dividend is 17
October 2001. When combined with the interim 2 cent dividend and
special 5 cent dividend following the sale of MITS, this brings total
dividends paid out of profits for the year ended 30 June 2001 to 9 cents
per share.

Utility Group

The Utility Group's businesses and activities are as follows:

Utility Asset Management, which provides services to power distributors
including line construction, inspection and maintenance.

Skilltech, a provider of meter services to water, power and gas
utilities including installation, maintenance and meter reading.

U-tel, a Vodafone channel manager.

neopurple, a multi-discipline design and project management consultancy
with services including web design, interactive technologies, graphic
design and industrial design.

Overall, this group performed well during the year however the
second-half results were impacted by start-up costs associated with new
long-term contracts. The prospects for this group remain very sound with
promising underlying growth and strong sales prospects.

e-Business Group
The e-Business group strategy is to develop a range of complementary
technology-related professional consulting businesses. Services offered
range from strategic consulting on information technology and
telecommunications issues through project management to e-commerce
enablement.

The businesses currently operating under this umbrella are:

Opticon Australia, which was acquired in March 2001. Opticon provides
specialist technology consulting advice and project management on
technology-related strategies to corporates and government.

Gibson Quai, which was acquired subsequent to year-end in August 2001.
Gibson Quai provides consulting services in telecommunications
technology, strategies and regulatory issues to government, investors,
corporates and regulators.

Current acquisition activity is concentrated on businesses within the
e-Business sector.


Technology Investments

Investments currently include ILID and Percipience. ILID is the indoor
light interactive display system. It has been successfully installed at
K-Mart Chadstone and Burwood, K-Mart's largest Victorian store. USC is
optimistic about the prospect of further substantial orders. Percipience
is a data base interrogation software solution currently being prepared
for commercialisation.

Acquisition strategy

USC is currently negotiating a number of potential acquisitions within
this strategic space with the objective of broadening the range of
professional consulting services provided, particularly in e-commerce.
We anticipate further announcements in the near future in relation to
these initiatives.

Share buy-back


USC has bought back over 9 million shares on market since the
introduction of the buy-back program on 19 December 2000 at an average
price of 64 cents per share. This capital management initiative is
considered an appropriate program given the company's strong cash
position and the director's view that the underlying value of USC shares
exceeds buyback prices.


When combined with dividends paid and declared this means that over $14
million will have been returned to shareholders over the past year.


Annual General Meeting


At the Annual General Meeting to be held on 14 November 2001 a
presentation will be given on USC's new strategy and structure.


Conclusion

I wish to thank all staff for their support and contribution during a
year of dramatic change for USC. I also wish to welcome all new
shareholders and staff to USC.

USC directors are committed to building long-term earnings growth
through the reinvestment program.

Geoff Lord
Executive Chairman
Utility Services Corporation Limited


Further information:
Geoff Lord
Executive Chairman
Utility Services Corporation Limited
Tel: (03) 9941 3100
www.utilityservices.com.au