Fit-out work surge boosts Morgan Sindall profits

Strong growth at Morgan Sindall’s fit-out division helped the construction contractor hike pre-tax profit 50% in the first half of the year to £23m.

The fit-out business is expected to drive growth for the rest of the year on the back of a record order book of £568m, up by over half on a year ago.

Chief Executive, John Morgan said operating margins were recovering at both fitout, now 4.3%, and the construction and infrastructure divisions, now up to 1.1%.

This helped to lift group pre-tax profits in the first six month of the year from £15m a year ago. Revenue rose 14% to £1.3bn.

Morgan Sandall trading in first six months
	Revenue	%rise	Op. profit	%rise	%margin	rise
Construction & Infrastructure	£694m	13%	£7.6m	138%	1.1%	60bps
Fit-out	£339m	15%	£14.6m	27%	4.3%	40bps
Property services	£31m	15%	£0.3m	200%	1.0%	60bps
Partnership Housing	£200m	9%	£5.5m	20%	2.8%	30bps
Urban Regeneration	£71m	£78%	£2m	-57%	0%	n/a

Across the there was a significant rise in average daily net cash to £132m. The group the order book rose 5% to £3.8bn.

Chief Executive, John Morgan said: “This is a strong set of results, driven by another period of margin and profit growth in fit-out and further progress on margin recovery in Construction & Infrastructure.

“With the current trading patterns in fit-out and the forward visibility provided by the size and quality of its order book, together with further margin improvement in construction & infrastructure and an increase in scheme completions in partnership housing and urban regeneration, we are confident of another strong performance by the group in the second half.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2017/08/08/fit-out-work-surge-boosts-morgan-sindall-profits/

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