Galliford Try has changed its plan to hit a 2% profit margin by 2021, delaying it instead to 2022.
The news came as the contractor unveiled its half-year results for the six months ended 31 December 2019, which followed its sale of Linden Homes and its partnerships division in January.
Pre-exceptional revenue in Galliford Try’s continuing operations was £636m for the period, down from £72m in the first half of 2019. It made a pre-tax loss of £4.6m, although following the sale, its statutory results showed a £60.5m profit on revenue of £668m. Meanwhile, Galliford Try’s order book was flat at £3.2bn.
Galliford Try is still targeting revenue of £1.3bn by 2021, but has pushed back its 2% margin target for its building and infrastructure division to 2022, with an objective of a group-wide 2% margin “in the medium term”.
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. Galliford Try has continued to maintain a strong pipeline of work in its chosen sectors, with excellent positions on several key frameworks in the public and regulated sectors. We are encouraged by the demand in our sectors and look to further enhance this position through the continued disciplined approach to project selection and rigorous risk management.”
