Galliford serves up leap in profits

A CONSTRUCTION firm with a portfolio of work including Wimbledon’s Centre Court roof and the athletes village at the Olympic Park hailed a jump in profits.

Galliford Try benefited from a resilient new homes market in the south of England, while more work at the All England Club, where it has recently rebuilt Number 3 court, ensured half-year profits rose 24 per cent to a better-than-expected £43.6m. Revenues increased 5 per cent to £1.3bn in the year to June 30.

Other high profile projects included the white-water canoe centre at Broxbourne for the Olympics, as well as the athletes village at the Olympic Park.

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Its housebuilding arm, which trades as Linden Homes, saw the number of completions rise 27 per cent to 2,170 after the market picked up in 2011, helping the division’s underlying profits increase 80 per cent to £31.6m.

The group said its plan to double the size of the division since it tapped shareholders for £119.3m in 2009 was on track.

However, revenues in its construction business were flat and underlying profits dipped by 3 per cent to £22.2m as the market remained intensely competitive.

Its pipeline of future work in the construction industry is down to £1.7bn compared to £1.8bn a year ago after the Government’s spending cuts led to a significant reduction in public sector work.

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It said: “Although the market held up longer than we expected, the effect of public sector spending constraints is impacting the construction industry’s future pipeline of work and continuing to drive further intense competitiveness.”