Keller sees full year 'materially ahead' of market views

Keller surged on Tuesday as it said its full-year performance was set to be "materially ahead" of current market expectations after a strong first half.

In the half year to 30 June, statutory pre-tax profit rose 121% to £95.3m, with revenue up 2% on the same period a year earlier at £1.49bn.

Keller - which lifted its dividend per share by 19% to 16.6p - said revenue was largely driven by growth in North America Foundations and Central Europe, partly offset by lower revenues at Suncoast and the NEOM project in Saudi Arabia compared with the prior period.

The geotechnical engineering firm hailed a record order book of £1.6bn, and said that this, along with the strength of its performance, has given it confidence to increase the outlook for the year.

"As a consequence, the board now anticipates that the group's performance for the full year will be materially ahead of current market expectations," it said.

Market expectations are for FY24 underlying operating profit of between £176m and £179m.

Chief executive Michael Speakman said: "Keller achieved outstanding results in the first half of the year, setting new records across the group, as we continued to sustain and build on the material step-up in operational and financial performance delivered in 2023.

"We maintained our focus on sustainable markets and attractive projects and the results reflect both the strength of the group's presence in the buoyant North American market and our continuous groupwide emphasis on improving project execution and delivery.

"The current macroeconomic environment presents opportunities, particularly in North America, albeit there are challenges in some of our other markets."

At 0850 BST, the shares were up 9.2% at 1,504.80p.