For the six months to 31 March 2013, revenue was £152.4m, down from £182.4m for H1 2012. Profit before tax was £4.6m (2012 H1: £4.3m).
Net debt has been reduced to £3.2m (H1 2012: £6.9m) and the order book has swollen to £361m, as of 31 March 2013, which is a record high for the company and up from £304m six months earlier.
During the first half of the year, revenue from the engineering services division grew by 4.8% to £110.4m (2012: £105.3m), representing 72% of group revenue. Operating profit increased by 6.5% to £4.9m (2012: £4.6m) with operating margin maintained at 4.4% (2012: 4.4%). The board said that delivery of multidisciplinary engineering services to mainly regulated markets would continue to result in profit growth for the company.
Specialist Building revenue was £42.0m (2012: £76.8m) delivering an operating profit of £1.0m (2012: £1.0m). The delayed award of projects has depressed revenue in the year to date, chief executive Brian May said, but this is expected to increase in the second half of the year as orders have been confirmed. The forward order book stood at £100m (2012: £75m).
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