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Building contractor Lakehouse has reported a return to operating profit after making a £36 million loss in 2016.
In its preliminary results for the year ended 30 September 2017, the company posted a pre-tax loss of just £3.1m, with the efforts of the Group's restructuring programme starting to be realised.
The Group said: "Notwithstanding underlying revenue growth of 21% within Compliance, Energy Services and Construction, Group underlying revenue from continuing operations decreased by 3% to £290.3m (2016: £299.1m), reflecting the restructuring and downsizing of Property Services.
"Underlying Group EBITA from continuing operations decreased to £7.3m (2016: £8.5m), reflecting the impact of Property Services; excluding Property Services, underlying Group EBITA grew 15.8%, from £7.7m to £9.0m."
Bob Holt, Chairman of Lakehouse, siad as part of the ongoing operational improvement programme, the Group continues to "streamline the business to focus on building up its core activities of Compliance and Energy Services, where we have strong businesses and leading market positions".
"Lakehouse had an excellent year, posting Underlying EBITA of £9.5m (comprising £7.3m from continuing operations and £2.2m from discontinued operations)," he said.
"For the year ended 30 September 2017 the Group, excluding Property Services, contributed 21% of revenue growth and a 15.8% increase in underlying EBITA
"We had an excellent year in bidding, securing £580m in new wins. These successes were reflected in the value of our frameworks, which increased by 22% from £1.6bn to £1.9bn and our order book increased by 19% from £532m to £631m.
"I was delighted by our good cash management in the year with year end net debt of £1.3m (2016: £20.6m), significantly ahead of expectations."
Looking towards the future, Mr Holt said by expanding core divisions, implementing operational improvement measures and managing exposure to risk, "we are building a strong platform from which to deliver a continued growth in performance".
"Therefore, we are confident in the Group's future prospects," he concluded.
(LM/MH)
