Aided by the acquisition of Scottish utility contractor Turriff at the start of the year, May Gurney saw its first-half revenues rise by 21% to £351.0m (H1 2010: £288.9m).
Ebitda was up 25% to £20.4m (H1 2010: £16.3m) and underlying pre-tax profit was up 21% to £14.5m (H1 2010: £12.0m).
More than £290m in new contracts and contract extensions were secured in the first half, including waste collection, street cleansing and winter maintenance for Bristol City, highways maintenance for East Sussex and street lighting for Richmond upon Thames
The forward order book currently stands at £1.5bn, including framework agreements, but excluding extensions. This is 7% up from the £1.4bn of a year before.
Chief executive Philip Fellowes-Prynne said: "May Gurney has once again delivered a solid financial and operational performance with continued turnover and profits growth, healthy cash generation and significant new business wins providing organic growth and long-term earnings visibility.
“Our strong financial position is the result of our proven strategy of focusing on developing long-term relationships with our clients for the delivery of essential front-line maintenance and enhancement services.”
He added: “Whilst alert to the challenges in the economy, and the pressures on government linked expenditure in particular, we believe that the essential nature of our services, our flexible approach, together with our solid balance sheet, position us well to continue to build upon the group's success."
The company also announced that it is looking for a new finance director. Matt Stevens, group finance director for the past two years, will leave the company in April 2012 to join A4e, a social purpose company, as CFO.
Got a story? Email news@theconstructionindex.co.uk
