5th Aug 2020 10:12
(Alliance News) - Morgan Sindall Group PLC on Wednesday said it will not pay an interim dividend as profits for its first half nosedived due to the Covid-19 pandemic but added it expects an improvement in performance for the second half.
Shares in the FTSE 250-listed construction firm were trading 12% higher at 1,160.00 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.
Pretax profit for the six months ended June 30 was GBP13.6 million, down 62% from GBP35.5 million the year prior. Revenue fell 4% year-on-year to GBP1.36 billion from GBP1.42 billion.
Morgan Sindall blamed the deterioration in its earnings on the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown restrictions imposed across the UK. Revenue for the second quarter was down 23% on the prior year, with April revenue falling 35% year-on-year.
Profit was also hurt by additional costs arising from site closures, lower productivity on sites, and from implementing new safety processes and procedures. Construction delays on many of its development schemes in the regeneration activities as well as lower revenue in the mixed-tenure activity of Partnership Housing further reduced profit.
No interim dividend was declared compared to 21.0p paid the year prior.
Looking ahead, the London-based company said it expects pretax profit for full year 2020 to be between GBP50 million and GBP60 million. For comparison, pretax profit for 2019 was GBP88.6 million.
As at the end of June, Morgan Sindall had cash of 206.1 million.
By Ife Taiwo; [email protected]
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Morgan Sindall Group