26th Mar 2015 09:00
LONDON (Alliance News) - Construction and land development company Henry Boot PLC on Thursday said its pretax profit rose in 2014 and hiked its dividend, as a fall in revenue was offset by profitable land sales and a lower cost of sales.
Pretax profit rose to GBP28.3 million in the year, up from GBP18.4 million last year, despite revenue falling to GBP147.2 million from GBP153.8 million. Its cost of sales fell to GBP103.5 million from GBP116 million in the year, outpacing the revenue fall. Revenue fell in part due to a GBP20 million one-off boost in 2013 from deals in York and Bromley, both of which were matched by the cost of sales.
Henry Boot said its Construction division managed to beat both revenue and profit expectations for the year, boosted by growing confidence and improving conditions in the UK construction market. The company saw increases in its public and private sector work in the year and saw growth in civil engineering work.
Profit in its land development business, Hallam Land, rose 18% to GBP13.1 million, despite the total number of plots on the schemes sold falling to 1,100 from 1,177 a year earlier. The group bought 16 further sites in 2014 and currently holds 9,985 acres in its portfolio, up from 9,723 a year before. It added it is focusing its land acquisitions on "more dynamic" parts of the country, given land values and activity in the north of England has remained benign, despite the recovery seen in the rest of the country.
The company is proposing a final dividend of 3.5 pence per share for the year, compared to 3.15 pence a year earlier, with the total dividend now 5.6 pence, up 9.8% year-on-year.
Henry Boot said its has seen positive early trading in 2015 so far and said it has entered the year well positioned for growth.
"I am delighted to report another year of strong results for our group. It is also pleasing to report that all of the businesses within the group performed well in their market segment," said Chairman John Brown.
Shares in Henry Boot were down 3.9% to 227.813 pence on Thursday.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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