Galliford Try improvements

The construction division of UK contractor Galliford Try saw its pre-exceptional margin improve in its annual results statement for the year ended 30 June, 2018, while the group as a whole claimed a strong underlying performance “reflecting excellent progress made against strategy to 2021”.

Construction reported £26 million (€29.21 million) net debt, which compared to a 2017 net cash figure of £137 million (€153.90 million). It said this reduction primarily reflected cash funding of the Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) which was caught up in the fallout of the Carillion crash earlier this year.

Good progress on the AWPR contract was reported, with the vast majority of the road completed, significant sections already opened to traffic and final completion expected in late autumn.

Galliford Try said the construction division result felt the impact of an exceptional charge of £45.0 million (€50.56 million) from the contract, in line with earlier guidance.

It claimed at 10 September, 2018, to have a £3.3 billion (€3.71 billion) risk-managed high-quality order book. In 2017, this stood at £3.6 billion (€4.04 billion).

Pre-exceptional margin was said to have improved to 0.9% from 0% a year earlier, on revenue of £1.69 billion (€189.95 billion) up from £1.53 billion (€176.47 billion).

CEO Peter Truscott said, “We have delivered a very strong underlying performance during the year, driven by excellent progress towards our strategic objectives across all three businesses.”

He said that the group’s Linden Homes continued to prioritise margin growth, benefiting from further standardisation and the robust control of overheads. This resulted in increased profitability in a year with modest house price inflation, he said.

“Partnerships & Regeneration achieved strong growth in both revenue and margin, with excellent contributions from the new businesses in Southampton, Bristol and East Midlands.

“The business has a strong order book and continues to see growing demand across all regions with opportunities in both contracting and mixed-tenure.”

Truscott said, “The underlying Construction business performed well and continues to see a pipeline of suitable opportunities, with new projects delivering improved margins.”

He added that a rights issue in April had strengthened the balance sheet and ensured that the group’s businesses were well positioned, with the appropriate capital, to deliver on their respective growth opportunities in line with the group’s Strategy to 2021.