Alfred McAlpine crashes back to earth

Alfred McAlpine made a pre-tax profit of £3m on last year’s turnover of £950m. The result represents a wafer-thin margin of just 0.3%.

The crash back to earth follows a string of results when McAlpine made many of its competitors in the construction sector gasp at its capability to report margins of 5% and over when no-one else could get within a mile of such a high level of profitability.

But troubles of the past have played a major part in the group’s latest setback as exceptional charges and goodwill knocked a £35m hole in profitability in the 12 months to 31 December 2004.

Of the three exceptional charges, totalling £27m in all, the largest was taken in the capital projects division (£16m). McAlpine’s infrastructure services division added a further £8m.

Craig McGilvray, managing director of the business services division, has taken a place on the main board. He joined the group three years ago when McAlpine bought Stiell.