Morgan Sindall FY results set to be 'slightly ahead' of its expectations

Morgan Sindall said on Wednesday that its full-year results are likely to be "slightly ahead" of its previous expectations as it reported a 20% increase in first-half pre-tax profit.

In the six months to the end of June, adjusted pre-tax profit rose to £36.3m from £30.2m in the same period a year earlier, while revenue was pretty much flat at £1.4bn. Reported pre-tax profit was 19% higher at £35.5m and the construction services group lifted its interim dividend by 11% to 21p a share.

The company's secured order book rose 19% in H1 to £4.2bn, while its regeneration and development pipeline grew 6% to £3.3bn.

Margin at its construction and infrastructure division improved further, rising to 2% from 1.7% in the first half of last year, with operating profit up 23% to £13.9m. The group also saw a good performance from its urban regeneration segment, where operating profit pushed up 36% to £8.3m.

Chief executive John Morgan said the results underline the "significant" operational and strategic progress being made across the group.

"Our strong balance sheet including our net cash position is a significant differentiator for us, allowing us to make the right long-term decisions for the business, which best positions us in our markets for continued sustainable growth," he said.

"There is much positive momentum across the group and with our high quality, growing order book, we are excited by the opportunities ahead. Following our strong first half performance and with the current visibility we have of the rest of the year, we now expect to deliver a result for the full year which is slightly ahead of our previous expectations."

At 1125 BST, the shares were up 2.5% at 1,138p.