Firm turns in record set of interim results
Morgan Sindall turned in a record set of half-year figures this morning as the firm again upgraded expectations for its booming fit out business.
The firm said it expected annual operating profit at the division to now be between £80m and £100m in the medium term – up from the £60m to £85m it had predicted at the start of the year.
Its fit out business, which is working on the Citibank scheme in Canary Wharf as well as the new HSBC headquarters at St Paul’s, saw operating profit jump 41% to £58m with turnover up a third to £838m.
Chief executive John Morgan said the firm was continuing to jobs on the back of companies wanting to spruce up workplaces as more workers returned to the office.
He added the firm had largely been unaffected by ISG’s demise but added: “When they went bust it made everyone realise a strong balance sheet is very important.”
Its net cash balance at the end of June was up 10% to £390m while its order book stood at £12bn, up £600m from the end of last year.
The firm also raised targets at its construction division with revenue at the business upgraded to £1.5bn over the medium term from £1bn. Expected operating margins remained the same at between 3% and 3.5%.
Revenue from its partnership housing business was up 6% to £405m with operating profit up 13% to £13m.
Morgan said the housing market was “still not as good as we expected by now” and pointed to Wales, where the Help to Buy initiative is still up and running, as an example of where the housing sector could be boosted. “Any housebuilder would welcome a stimulus.”
The overall market he added was “normal. It’s not bad but not great. GDP growth is lower than we’d like it to be. Better GDP means more money to spend on capital projects.”
Group revenue was up 7% to £2.4bn with pre-tax profit up 36% to £95m.
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