Contractor announces that trading is in line with expectataions although fit out work has fallen

Morgan Sindall has announced a steady start to the year and said that it is trading in line with expectations.

Its order book is slightly up, from £3.6bn at the start of the year to £3.8bn now, it stated in a trading statement this morning.

“The group has made a positive start to the year and is on track to meet its expectations for this year,” it said.

Construction and infrastructure was trading as expected, the Morgan Sindall said, and had seen a seasonal increase in its order book.

It said affordable housing was trading better than expected because of more sales, rather than any rise in house prices. This echoes Galliford Try’s trading statement this morning which also said that affordable housing was trading ahead of expectations.

However, the contractor said the order book for fit-out work had fallen: “Fit out continues to win work in a market that remains highly competitive with continued downward pressure on margins.

“The division’s forward order book is slightly below the level at the start of the year and the corresponding period last year.”