Firm says figures will ‘at least’ be in line with expectations

Keller has said trading in the first four months of the year is strong with profit and cash better than expected.

In a trading update, the firm, which is working on parts of the HS2 scheme in the Midlands, said it expected a full-year performance “at least in line with expectations”.

Turnover last year was £3bn with pre-tax profit coming in at £56m.

keller

Keller said trading had been strong in the first four months of the year

The firm said it was “resolving the operational issues” at its Austral division in which operating profit was exaggerated by around £18m over several years and saw two senior figures fired as a result.

Austral is a civil, mining and marine contractor that Keller said contributes around 3% of the firm’s revenue.

The ground engineer had flagged in January that it had been the victim of a “sophisticated” fraud at the division based in Australia.

Keller said “increased momentum” gave the firm “good visibility and confidence through the remainder of the year”.

It will release interim results on 1 August.