Kier has recorded a 5% increase in revenue despite taking a £86 million hit by closing its Caribbean and Hong Kong businesses.

The company's full-year results reveal revenue rose to £4.27 billion from £4.08bn last year, while profit before tax increased 8% to £126m (2016; £116m).

In addition to securing a record £3bn in contract awards for the year, operating profit for the year was up 3% to £146m while its order book stands at £4.2bn. Contract awards include the £1.5bn HS2 joint venture.

-- Advertisement --

Revenue in Kier's construction division was up 6% to £2,019m (2016; £1,901m) with an underlying operating profit increase of 2% to £39.8m (2016: £38.9m).

Chief executive Haydn Mursell said: "Our underlying performance for the year was good. Having simplified our portfolio, the Group is more focused and able to pursue its growth ambitions in our three core markets; building, infrastructure and housing, which now represent 90% of the Group’s revenue and profit. We continue to invest in the business to improve our operational efficiency, providing a robust platform on which to take advantage of the strong long-term fundamentals in these core markets.

"Our Construction and Services order books of £9.5bn, together with our c.£2bn property development and residential pipelines, provide good long-term visibility of our future work. This visibility, coupled with our healthy balance sheet, provides us with confidence of achieving our Vision 2020 strategic targets."

(LM)