Acquisitive Henry Boot sees revenues rise 74%

In what is Henry Boot chief executive John Sutcliffe’s first set of results since taking on the role, revenues and profitability were up.

For the year to December 2016, revenue increased 74% to £306.8m, up from £176.2m.

Pre-tax profits increased 22% to £39.5m for the year.

Henry Boot said this was down to an increase in activity, particularly in residential as the housebuilding sector looks to meet major government targets. It completed 89 residential completions at York and 70 completions through jointly-owned house builder, Stonebridge Projects.

It said that its “key strategic aim” is to deliver value to shareholders over the longer term.

Henry Boot said that it would be looking to acquire new opportunities which create profit “well into the future”.

Chairman, Jamie Boot said: “I am delighted to report a 22% increase in profit before tax to £39.5m for the year ended 31 December 2016. Each of our three business segments performed well, notwithstanding the macroeconomic concerns after the EU referendum result, and we have built a strong pipeline of schemes to be delivered over 2017-2019.”

Chief executive officer, John Sutcliffe said: “In my first business review since taking over as Chief Executive Officer on 1 January 2016, I am very pleased to report that Henry Boot PLC has delivered yet another strong operational performance, financial result and earnings per share growth of 23%.

“Our strategy and the Company organisation remains unchanged, as do the key metrics by which we manage and monitor our business segments. 2017 has started well in all our businesses and we confidently look forward to a year of further progress.”

The company proposed a final dividend of £4.50 (up from £3.80 the year before), giving a total for the year of 7.00p – a 15% increase.