Henry Boot Profit Soars Amid Delivery Of Lucrative Projects

23rd Mar 2018 11:03

LONDON (Alliance News) - Henry Boot PLC on Friday announced a sharp increase in revenue and pretax profit for the year end 2017 due to the high returns from ongoing projects, including Aberdeen Exhibition and Conference Centre.

For 2017, the property investment and construction company revenue rose 33% to GBP408.5 million from GBP306.8 million the year prior. The pretax profit totaled GBP55.4 million, up 40% from GBP39.5 million, which resulted from the increase in revenue.

The company said that the sharp rise in revenue was driven by the increased activities and development schemes of the group. The revenue hike was attributable from the continued delivery of the new conference and exhibition centre for Aberdeen City Council, sales of residential apartments at the former Terry's chocolate factory in York and increased residential land sales within the land promotion segment.

In addition, the company said that Hallam Land Management Ltd, a division of Henry Boot, recorded a GBP23.1 million profit from selling 15 residential sites comprising 2,169 plots and, at the same time, successfully secured 14 new planning consents.

Henry Boot declared a final dividend of 520 pence per share, giving a total payout of 800p. In 2016, the company paid a final dividend of 450p, with a total payout of 700p.

"2017 delivered a record financial performance, primarily due to development schemes being delivered more quickly than we initially anticipated. As a result, profit before tax and earnings per share increased by 40% and 49% respectively, and we were able to more than replenish our portfolio of future opportunities during the year. Notwithstanding any potential impact from the decision to leave the EU, our business model and strategic aims remain unchanged, and 2018 has started well across all our business streams," Chief Executive John Sutcliffe said.

"We have made a good start to the 2018 financial year, having already concluded a number of land sales. In addition, we have a strong pipeline of construction work, commercial development projects and strategic land sites working through the marketing process, on which to capitalise through the year," Chairman Jamie Boot said.

Shares in Henry Boot were 1.00% up at 306.00 pence on Friday morning.

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