HBG UK unveils record £42m pre-tax profit

HBG UK has made a record pre-tax profit of £42m in 2006 which represents a sparkling margin of 4.8%.

The star performance came from HBG’s property development arm, where turnover of £85m generated half the group’s total profit, with a contribution of £22m (previous year’s figure: £5m).

The seven of HBG’s regional construction businesses each logged a margin of more than 2%. Overall, construction turnover of £810m produced a pre-tax profit of £21m, a rise of £1m over the previous year.

Richard Gregory, chief executive, said: “The exceptional results follow our overall business plan objectives to achieve growth of turnover and improvement in profitability.

“We have devoted a great deal of time and resources on developing and consolidating our supply chain to build long-term partnerships in every business unit.”

At the end of the financial year (12 months to 31 December 2006), HBG UK had a forward orderbook worth £1.6bn. The latest turnover figure was well ahead of the 2005 figure of £780m.

Of the various construction markets where HBG is a player, education was the strongest, both with PFI school clusters delivered for sister company BAM PPP and with tendered work for schools, academies, colleges and universities.

Healthcare work, though still modest in volume terms, has seen rapid growth. Retail remains a strong element of HBG’s business with continuous work from ASDA, Sainsbury’s and Morrison.