Another strong financial performance, with record growth in forward work position to £5.4bn:
- Revenue of £1,251m (FY 23: £1,332m) reflecting the timing of contract starts and completions in Transportation, with growth in all Natural Resources sectors.
- Adjusted operating profit1 up 7.5% to £43.1m (FY 23: £40.1m) at the upper end of expectations with an increased operating margin in both divisions. Reported operating profit up 16.0% to £31.1m (FY 23: £26.8m).
- A further year of margin improvement with an adjusted operating margin1 increase of 40bps to 3.4% (FY 23: 3.0%) and a 4.4% margin achieved in H2 24.
- Adjusted EPS1 up strongly by 19.7% to 14.6p (FY 23: 12.2p), reflecting increased adjusted operating profits and financial income, together with a reduced tax rate. Reported EPS increased by 39.5% to 11.3p (FY 23: 8.1p).
- Net cash in line with expectations at £158.5m (FY 23: £164.4m) after £10m buyback completed in the year.
- Record increase of £1.5bn in high-quality forward work2 position to £5.4bn, more than four times FY 24 revenue (FY 23: £3.9bn).
- Contract wins across all sectors with significant growth in Water AMP8 programmes and Rail.
- Doubling of full year dividend to 2.4p (FY 23: 1.2p) with proposed final dividend per share of 2.0p (FY 23: 0.8p), as we move towards our target three times dividend cover.
Alex Vaughan, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“I am pleased that we had another good year with adjusted operating profit at the upper end of expectations. We delivered a further increase in operating profit and earnings per share, building on our strong financial performance track record of the past three years. Adjusted operating margin increased significantly, exceeding our target for FY 24, and we remain on track to deliver our margin target for FY 25.
“The record growth in forward work position is expected to deliver further progress in FY 25 and FY 26, followed by a step change in FY 27 performance. The quality, balance and better risk profile of our forward work position of £5.4bn across our two divisions, together with continued investment in our chosen markets, gives us growing visibility on future revenue and margin."
"We continue to deliver improvements and invest in the business, and are increasingly confident in the Group’s growth prospects, with our strong cash position and cash generation enabling the Group to enhance returns to shareholders.”
Alex Vaughan Chief Executive Officer