Morgan Sindall has reported a spike in profit as its revenue grew 14 per cent in the first half of 2024.
The UK’s second-largest contractor turned over £2.21bn in the six months to 30 June, up from £1.94bn a year earlier, according to interim results published on Thursday morning (8 August).
The group made a pre-tax profit of £70.1m, an increase of 21 per cent from the same period a year earlier. The group’s net cash also increased from £263m to £351m, although its order book fell from £8.9bn to £8.7bn.
Four of the group’s six divisions delivered revenue growth, with construction turnover up 10 per cent to £519m and infrastructure work ballooning by 24 per cent to £530m.
Morgan Sindall said its fit-out arm – which comprises Overbury and Morgan Lovell – saw “significant growth”, with operating profit up 36 per cent, while the group’s partnership housing arm Lovell saw revenue increase by 2 per cent to £381m.
The company said “mobilising existing long-term schemes” in its mixed-use partnerships division, Muse, “has been slower in the first half of 2024 compared to prior years”. However, it added that despite the “hiatus” it had been named preferred bidder on three projects in the Midlands.
The group also said its smallest division, property services, made £11m of losses during the first half of 2024 due to “early release from a small number of contracts”. However, it added that an annual loss at the business will be mostly due to this first half, adding that a business “remediation plan” will see the division return to profit in 2025.
John Morgan, chief executive of Morgan Sindall, said: “We’ve delivered another record set of results in the first half, once again reflecting the high quality of our operations, with revenue, adjusted profit before tax and the interim dividend all showing strong mid to high double-digit growth in the period.
“The challenging market conditions that we experienced in 2023 are easing, as we continue to make significant strategic and operational progress across the group and remain well-positioned to support the government’s affordable home and social infrastructure plans.”
He added: “Our balance sheet, supported by a substantial average daily cash position, has enabled us to focus on making the right decisions to drive for long-term sustainable growth while also supporting the returns to shareholders in the period.
“Following our strong trading performance in the first half, combined with the high-quality secured order book and visibility for the rest of the year, we now expect to deliver a result for the full year which is slightly ahead of our previous expectations.”
Last year Morgan Sindall made a pre-tax profit of £143.9m from a turnover of £4.1bn.
