Ground engineering contractor’s profits take £1.8m hit

Piling and ground engineering contractor Van Elle says its profits have taken a £1.8 million hit due to a “quiet” first quarter.

While the Nottinghamshire-based firm is expecting to post half-year revenues of £48 million in its upcoming results – up £5.1 million on its previous tally – its net debt at 31 October 2019 was up £700,000 to £6.4 million.

In a statement to the London Stock Exchange, the company said that market conditions in the first part of the year were “challenging,” with customer uncertainty and heightened competitive pressure resulting in a subdued first quarter.

However, the Group says its ongoing transition plan resulted in a “stronger” second quarter performance.

The company said: “Notwithstanding continued short term uncertainty in several of the Group’s markets, including the commercial building sector and subdued activity levels in year one of Network Rail’s Control Period 6, the Board anticipates modest market improvement during the second half and believes the diversity of the Group’s operations and continued delivery of its transition plan initiatives will allow it to maintain the current momentum. Consequently, the Board believes that the Group is on-track to deliver a result for the current year within the range of market expectations.”

Van Elle’s next results announcement will be published on 22 January 2020.