Morgan Sindall sees order book growth

UK-based contractor Morgan Sindall Group announced an increase in its order book for the third quarter of 2013, which sat at £3.3 billion (€4 billion), up 6% on the firm’s half-year results.

In its interim management statement for the period from 1 July, Morgan Sindall stated that its overall group performance in the third quarter was “in line with the board’s expectations as at the time of the half year results on 5 August, 2013, and followed a broadly similar trend to the first half.”

It said that within this, group revenue had held up well when compared to the third quarter of 2012, while group margin was hit primarily by margin contraction in the Construction & Infrastructure division.

Construction & Infrastructure held steady for the UK contractor, whose focus is now on operational delivery, contract selectivity through the risk management of contractual terms and conditions, and working capital management.

Fit Out also saw no significant change to performance or order book in the third quarter compared to the first half. However, the company pointed to early indications of increasing confidence of market improvement through 2014 and beyond.

Morgan Sindall’s performance in Affordable Housing improved in the third quarter over the first half, with an increase in open market house sale completions of 41% in the nine months of 2013, compared to the same period in 2012.

Urban Regeneration projects also continue to show promise, with Morgan Sindall signing a £100 million contract as sole developer for the South Shields 365 town centre renewal during the third quarter of 2013.