Fit-out specialist’s boss puts first half of year loss down to ‘changing mix of work’ and increasing use of frameworks

tony lenehan

Fit-out specialist Styles & Wood made a loss in the first half of the year partly due to its “changing mix of work”, the firm’s chief executive Tony Lenehan has said.

The listed contractor posted a £0.5m loss for the six months ended 30 June 2012, down from £0.9m the previous year, while revenue edged up to £40.6m from £40.3m.

But Lenehan said the results partly reflected the fact the firm was doing an increased proportion of work through frameworks, which he said was mostly delivered in the second half of the year.

Styles & Wood has increased the proportion of its work delivered through frameworks to 65% from 60% the previous year, Lenehan said.

He added: “The first six months are primarily focused on organising and getting ready to do work, then we move into delivery in the second half.”

He said this pattern was particularly relevant to its banking clients – which include Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays and RBS and make up 40% of the firm’s revenue.

The firm made a pre-tax underlying profit of £0.1m over the first half period, following on from a £0.2m loss for the same period last year.