26th Feb 2025 10:42
(Alliance News) - Morgan Sindall Group PLC on Wednesday said the UK housing market was tempered by affordability constraints due to high mortgage rates in the past year, as it proposed a dividend hike.
The London-based construction group said pretax profit rose 19% to GBP171.9 million in 2024 from GBP143.9 million in 2023.
Revenue climbed 10% to GBP4.55 billion in 2024 from GBP4.12 billion in 2023. Cost of sales increased 9.4% to GBP4.02 billion from GBP3.67 billion. Administrative expenses were 11% higher at GBP360.0 million from GBP324.0 million.
"The pace of recovery in the UK housing market remained subdued this year, tempered by affordability constraints impacted by high mortgage rates. In Partnership Housing, the partnership model focusing on long-term partnerships with the public sector, has continued to provide some level of resilience and cushion against the impact of the softness in housing for sale activity. While the demand for contracting has remained strong throughout the year, the sales rates of private homes on its mixed- tenure sites have shown gradual recovery during 2024," the company said.
Morgan Sindall proposed a final dividend of 90.0 pence per share, up 15% from 78.0p a year ago. This brings the total payout for 2024 to 131.5p, also an increase of 15%, from 114.0p.
Looking ahead, the company said: "While there is continued uncertainty in the wider macroeconomy, we remain positive for the year ahead. Together with its high-quality and growing order book spread across a wide number of sectors, the group is well-positioned for the future and on track to deliver an outcome for 2025 which is in line with its current expectations."
Morgan Sindall further noted that in construction and infrastructure, the market environment remains stable due to the diversification of segments in which they operate within.
"Where projects are currently underway, most include appropriate inflationary protection within the overall contract pricing, and this is not seen as a significant risk. Where projects are being priced for future delivery, funding constraints, and inflation to a lesser degree in some areas, continues to place some project budgets under pressure, which in turn has led to some delays in decision-making and project commencement. However, the impact of this has not been material and in the majority of cases, any client budget constraints are being addressed by adjustments to project scopes, thereby allowing projects to proceed," the firm said.
Morgan Sindall shares were 0.3% higher at 3,545.00 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor
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