Morgan Sindall resists headwinds with £53.7m half-year profit
The property group has reported a 2% increase in pre-tax profit in the six months to 30 June, as group revenue climbed 9% to £1.7bn.
Morgan Sindall’s urban regeneration division Muse Developments made an operating profit of £7.3m.
Although that represents a decrease from the half-year figure in 2021 of £8.7m, Muse is now on site with 19 UK-wide projects, including close to 2,500 homes, with a total construction value of £878m and gross development value of more than £1.2bn.
Muse’s order book and forward development pipeline now stands at £2.2bn. At MIPIM this year, it announced a 10-year extension to the English Cities Fund joint venture with Homes England and Legal & General.
In a construction market heavily hit by the ongoing war in Ukraine affecting material sourcing, supply chains, labour availability and energy prices, Morgan Sindall’s construction and infrastructure division saw operating margin up to 3.2% from 2.3% in 2021, with operating profit up 7% to £24.1m.
Live projects include the two offices totalling 150,000 sq ft being delivered for Wirral Council in partnership with Muse.
The group described the performance of the Overbury fit-out division as “excellent,” with operating profit up 10% to £21.2m, up from £19.3m in 2021.
Lovell, responsible for partnership housing, reported operating profit up 15% to £13.9m. The property services division made £2.5m profit.
The group’s net cash position at the end of the reporting period was £274m, with a secured workload of £8.5bn. Full-year results are forecast to be slightly ahead of previous expectations.
For Muse, construction started on a number of projects, including the 96-home Greenhaus in Salford, and a 64,000 sq ft office and 400-space multi-storey car park at Stockport Exchange.
Work continued on schemes including a Holiday Inn in Blackpool and commercial office developments in Birkenhead and Salford, with a 175,000 regional hub for BT and 115,000 net zero in operation office, Eden, both making progress.
Kate Bowyer, managing director at Muse, said: “Our focus continues to be creating vibrant, sustainable places that improve the fortunes of our towns, cities and local communities.
“We’ve had a strong start to the year, with some important milestones including the extension of our English Cities Fund joint venture, which uniquely positions us to deliver vital regeneration and placemaking, complementing the national levelling up agenda.”
