However, founder John Morgan, to shake up the company, says that the reorganisation has made the company better placed to cope with continuing difficult market conditions. This includes a greater focus on infrastructure sectors.
鈥淚 believe our strategy is robust and our aim is to remain focused on those UK markets where we can develop a leadership position,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y priorities are on improving margins, focusing on our strengths in delivering complex projects, appropriate capital allocation, driving increased collaboration across the group and developing new and emerging opportunities.鈥�
Group revenue for the year to 31 December 2012 was down 8% to 拢2,047m (2011: 拢2,227m). Pre-tax profit was down 15% to 拢34.2m (2011: 拢40.0m). However, excluding amortisation and non-recurring items (the 拢10m reorganisation cost), profits were up 4% to 拢47.1m.
By division, the results were:
Construction and infrastructure:聽Operating profit decreased to 拢19.7m (2011: 拢21.1m) on revenue of 拢1,168m (2011: 拢1,268m).
Fit out: Operating profit decreased to 拢11.3m (2011: 拢12.4m) on revenue of 拢427m (2011: 拢438m).
Affordable housing: Operating profit decreased to 拢11.5m (2011: 拢18.5m) on revenue of 拢386m (2011: 拢462m).
Urban Regeneration: Operating profit decreased to 拢2.7m (2011: 拢3.9m) on revenue of 拢62m (2011: 拢57m).
The group forward order book was 拢3.1bn at year-end (2011: 拢3.4bn).
Mr Morgan added: 鈥�2012 has seen a solid performance in what has been a very tough market. The newly structured board is focused on managing the business tightly to ensure we emerge from the downturn in a strong position to take advantage of the opportunities we believe lie ahead.聽 Our exposure to infrastructure continues to grow, and we see further opportunity to leverage our strong track record and gain market share. The momentum in our regeneration pipeline reinforces our confidence that returns from our investment will start to increase over the medium term and deliver superior returns.鈥�
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