Morgan Sindall enjoys 'strong' start to year as order book grows 8%
Construction services business Morgan Sindall said on Wednesday that it has enjoyed a "strong start" to the year as its order book grew.
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In an update on trading from 1 January to date, the company said all divisions have made further positive operational and strategic progress, with the committed order book as at 31 March up 8% from the year end position to £3.8bn.
Meanwhile, the regeneration and development pipeline grew 2% to £3.2bn.
The company said its construction and infrastructure division has continued its focus on contract selectivity and operational delivery and is expected to deliver the anticipated margin improvement in the year.
The Fit Out business has performed as expected against the predicted backdrop of a general tightening in overall market conditions, it said, while the property services segment is delivering its expected margin growth and is the most significant contributor to the growth of the group order book.
The Partnership Housing division has performed as planned and is beginning to deliver the expected improvement in its operational delivery. The estimated average capital employed for the full year remains at around £150m, with an increase in investment expected across the rest of the year as its developments progress.
Morgan Sindall said the timing of developments and scheme completions in Urban Regeneration have progressed as scheduled, with average capital employed for the year expected to be approximately £95m, as previously guided.
Based on its performance to date and current visibility of future workload, the group said it's on track to deliver a full year performance in line with its expectations and with more of a weighting towards the first half than in previous years.
Chief executive John Morgan said: "We have had a strong start to the year and the positive momentum coming into 2019 has continued. Our order book is showing good growth and our balance sheet and cash position are in very good shape. We are therefore excited by the opportunities ahead in each of our markets."
Morgan Sindall also said in the statement that its average daily net cash since the start of the year to 30 April was £138m, up £12m from the same period last year. As a result, the average daily net cash for the year is expected to be in excess of £85m.
At 0930 BST, the shares were up 0.6% to 1,300p.