Galliford Try pushes out date for profit margin goals

Construction firm Galliford Try warned on Thursday that it would take a whole 12 months longer than expected for the group to hit its divisional operating margin target.

Galliford Try previously expected to record a divisional 2% margin target in its building and infrastructure unit by 2021 but said this was now unlikely to happen until 2022. The group said it still had the objective of achieving a group-wide 2% margin after allowing for public/private partnerships and central costs.

As far as numbers went, Galliford Try swung to a pre-tax profit of £16.6m for the six months ended 31 December, a marked turnaround from the loss of £5.6m recorded a year earlier, despite witnessing statutory revenues fall 12.6% to £669m.

Excluding exceptional items, the continuing business of Galliford Try made a loss before tax of £5.6m, versus the previous year's profit of £2.2m.

The FTSE 250-listed group highlighted that its order book was effectively unchanged year-on-year at £3.2bn.

Chief executive Bill Hocking said: "This has been a period of significant change with the successful strategic disposal of the group's housebuilding divisions transforming Galliford Try into a well-capitalised, UK construction-focused business.

"The restructured group is performing well with a number of recent significant project wins, and I'm pleased to report the results for the first half of the year."

Galliford added that it was mindful of potential risks associated with the coronavirus outbreak and said it was taking appropriate preparatory steps to mitigate harm and disruption.

As of 0915 GMT, Galliford Try shares had slumped 9.96% to 127.42p.