Birse profit blighted by Leicester City debt

As expected, Birse's results were blighted by the £5.5m debt owed by Leicester City FC. The group's pre-tax profit dropped from £6.7m to £1.2m in the year to 30 April.

Total group turnover was flat £483.3m (£487.2m), but this conceals some divisional variances. The civil engineering business was the jewel in Birse's crown, boosting operating profit by 58% to £6.9m on turnover rising 14.5% to £246.2m.

However, the building division suffered a 20.5% drop in turnover to £195.6m as operating loss grew from £225,000 to £6.7m. The two building businesses, Birse Build and Birse Stadia, had a tough time. The former was affected by the drop off in the private commercial sector, while the latter will now only be deployed "on a selective basis". According to Birse, it does not expect to win any new stadia contracts in the next 12 months.

Plant hire remains the group's most profitable area as operating profit increased 41% to £3.3m on turnover up 9% to £9.3m.