Galliford restructure costs dent profit

Galliford Try's restructuring costs of £4m in the construction division dented the group's latest financial results, announced this morning.

Galliford's turnover of £640m in the first six months of 2003 produced a pre-tax profit of £13.5m.

The housebuilding division spared the group's blushes as it turned in a £24m operating profit on turnover of £160m. By way of contrast, Galliford's construction business ran up a loss of £400,000 on a turnover of £480m.

Last year, a loss of £2m in construction prompted Galliford to introduce wholesale changes which resulted in Andy Sturgess arriving as managing director. The construction division had lost its way in three areas: pricing, understanding design risk and its execution of projects.

Galliford Try Construction now operates out of three centres: Warrington, Wolvey and Uxbridge. It has been shortlisted as a potential construction provider for NHS ProCure 21 health sector projects and has won a further five-year development agreement with the All England Lawn Tennis Club at Wimbledon.

The construction division has already secured 80% of its projected workload for the coming financial year. The forward orderbook stands at £670m of which 84% has been secured on a value basis.