Kier increases pre-tax profits by 12%

Construction group Kier has increased pre-tax profits by 12% as it looks to build on its £9bn order book.

The results, for the six months to December 2016, showed revenues were down by 1% to £2.00bn, but pre-tax profits rose by £4.8m to £46.3m.

The business, which employs over 800 people across the Midlands, is building around 300 homes in a £40m mixed tenure housing scheme in Kings Norton and recently completed Goodman’s £12m Eastside Locks development in Birmingham.

It is on site to deliver the national transport design centre for Coventry University and is working alongside joint venture partner Carillion to turn part of the M6 into a smart motorway.

Kier Group’s chief executive Haydn Mursell said the results reflected the group’s “ongoing financial and operational discipline” and the strength of its business model.

He said: “The group’s breadth provides some resilience against economic uncertainty and we continue to shape Kier to focus on our core competencies.

“We are encouraged by the pipeline in the property and residential businesses and our healthy order books of approximately £9bn in the construction and services businesses.”