Profit at Morgan Sindall is set to exceed expectations due to the strength of its fit-out and partnership housing arms.
In a trading update released on Tuesday morning (22 October), the contractor said profit at its fit-out arm Overbury had strengthened significantly due to exceptional volumes.
It is “expected to materially exceed the group’s previous expectations”, the company said.
Overbury’s secured order book as of 30 September 2024 was £1.3bn, up 15 per cent from its 2023 year-end position.
Earlier this month Overbury was confirmed on a circa £50m job to fit out 1 Triton Square, the former Facebook headquarters, in North London (pictured), for a joint venture between British Land and Royal London Asset Management Property.
The trading update added that profit from Morgan Sindall’s partnership housing arm Lovell were slightly ahead of its previous expectations.
It said that both construction and infrastructure were on course to hit revenue and margin targets, while trading was subdued in its mixed-use partnerships business.
Morgan Sindall’s half-year results, released in August, showed the group turned over £2.21bn in the six months to 30 June, up from £1.94bn a year earlier. It posted a pre-tax profit of £70.1m, compared with £59.8m in the same period in 2023.
Operating profit at Overbury reached £41.3m in the first half of 2024, up from £30.4m.
At the time, Morgan Sindall chief executive John Morgan said the strong first-half performance meant the full-year result was expected to exceed expectations. Today’s announcement said that results will be “significantly ahead” of those revised expectations.
The contractor, the UK’s second largest, had a total secured order book of £8.9bn as of 30 September, up 3 per cent from its half-year position and in line with 2023.
Daily average net cash stood at £374m between 1 January and 18 October, up from £273m in the prior year.
It is due to publish its results for the 12 months to 31 December 2024 in February 2025.
