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Wates' order book swells to £5bn

19 Mar 18 Wates Group has posted 2017 results showing modest increases in turnover and profit but a substantially expanded order book.

For year ended 31st December 2017 Wates made a pre-tax profit of £35.7m (2016: £35.5m), a rise of 0.7%.

Turnover was up £90m, or 6% to £1.62bn (2016: £1.53bn).

There was strong growth in property services turnover, up 11% to £477.3m. Construction turnover was up 4.6% to £934.8m.

Turnover from residential developments increased by 0.4% to £206.1m.

Wates started 2018 with a record order book of £5.1bn, a rise of 42% over the year (2016: £3.6bn).

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Chairman James Wates said: “These are really positive results for the Wates Group, demonstrating our continued success in what has been a challenging year for the sector. They attest to the quality and commitment of our people, the strength of our relationships with customers and partners, and our robust financial management.

“The results demonstrate the resilience of our strategy, systems and processes, which have provided a strong foundation for our performance, led by our executive team and David Allen, our acting chief executive.

“Performance across all areas of the business was very strong. We continued to maintain a balance of public and private sector clients, with notable success in appointments to major public sector frameworks for Scape Procure and the Education and Skills Funding Agency. We completed landmark projects for the V&A Museum, the Houses of Parliament and the London Business School, while our Property Services businesses continued to grow. A record number of new homes were built, with major development schemes in the pipeline with, for example, Homes England and the London Borough of Havering.

“These results reflect our belief that profitability has to be linked to the long-term sustainability, not only of our company, but of the industry and the communities in which we work. In 2017 we continued to invest in social enterprises, spending £2.65m and remaining on course to spend a cumulative £20m by 2020. The Group employed 190 trainees and apprentices as well as providing training and learning opportunities for over 1,500 young people to help build the workforce of the future. Most importantly of all, we improved our industry-leading health and safety record."

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