Record order book provides strong framework for steel giant

Structural steel group, Severfield says it has built on the positive momentum it had entering the financial year with results for the first half of the year seeing revenues up by 5% with a record UK and Europe order book.

The Thirsk-based business reported revenues for the six months to 30 September of £195.9m, £9.9m ahead of the same period last year and over £64m above the same period in 2019, with the growth attributed to the additional revenues from DAM Structures which was acquired in February.

The results come as the business says “tendering activity in the UK and Europe remains very encouraging”, and that it’s order book -which as of the 1 November was £393m for the region – crosses a wide range of sectors including industrial and distribution projects, HS2 related works and the new Everton Stadium.

Alan Dunsmore

The group also noted that it had made strong progress with its Indian business with an order book at the start of the month of £140m, with Alan Dunsmore, chief executive officer noting the business is “well-placed to capitalise on this exciting market opportunity as the economy recovers from the pandemic and construction continues to transition from concrete to steel”.

Dunsmore added: “The operational and strategic progress we have made over recent years has underpinned our first half performance.”

He noted that the first half profit performance was slightly ahead of the previously anticipated profit weighting for H1/H2 but that he expects the group’s profits for the 2022 financial to still have a second-half bias.

Looking ahead Dunsmore noted that “the inflationary outlook and labour market and supply chain pressures present challenges” but that the group’s “strong order book and operational experience give us confidence for the rest of this year and provide good visibility through FY23.”