Severfield paid £20m bridge insurance money as firm says cost of repairs has not increased

Troubled steelwork contractor Severfield has said the cost of carrying out repairs on several bridges has not increased since it announced its annual results over the summer.

In July, the firm said it estimated the cost of sorting out the problems, which centre on welding defects, will be £43.4m although insurance recoveries of £20m, due to be received in the first half of the current financial year, will bring the hit down to £23.4m.

In a trading update this morning, the firm said there had been “no material changes to the estimated costs recorded in the FY25 results” and added the £20m in insurance had now been received.

The firm said its UK and Europe order book at the start of this month was £420m, down from £444m two months earlier, with £330m of the figure due to be delivered in the coming year. It said the order book at its India joint venture, JSSL, was up 5% to £252m over the same period.

Severfield gave no update on when incoming chief executive Paul McNerney, who will arrive after more than 25 years at Laing O’Rourke, will join – although Building understands this will be at the start of next month.

McNerney is replacing Alan Dunsmore who left earlier this year after 15 years at the business.

Severfield said it will announce its interim results for the six months to 27 September on 25 November.

Earlier this year, Severfield warned underlying pre-tax profit for FY26 would be below the number previously predicted.