'Exceptional growth' for Laing O'Rourke

Laing O'Rourke's pre-tax profit continues to grow: the latest figure of £45m marks a substantial rise over the £34m profit logged in the previous year.

Latest annual results (12 months to 31 March) show that O'Rourke's turnover has broken through the £3bn barrier for the first time. The 2006 workload ran to £2.3bn.

Ray O'Rourke, chairman, said: "We love to build. From our headquarters in the UK we are growing a global business with hubs in Europe, Middle East and Asia, and Australasia. Ambition and a relentless determination to excel drive the group's thinking.

"We have delivered exceptional growth. Our orderbook is strong (at £8.4bn), with 86% of next year's revenues accounted for.

"We are organising and training to work smarter. We will remain at the forefront of fresh thinking through the use of technology, exploiting opportunities pioneered elsewhere, such as process re-engineering seen across the manufacturing sector."

Suppliers and subcontractors were paid faster, with O'Rourke trimming the number of days billing from suppliers outstanding to just 30 days (32 days), well ahead of the industry average.

O'Rourke's net debt of £62m in 2006 has been transformed into a cash balance of £72m, although the group said this was somewhat fortuitous and is not likely to be repeated.

There was no dividend to shareholders this year. Last year, the pay-out ran to £7.3m.

O'Rourke's six directors received a total pay of £2.3m with the highest paid director being handed pay of £450,000 and a pension contribution of £160,000.

O'Rourke bought Barclay Mowlem in the spring of 2006 for £30m. The figure included £37m of goodwill. The move transformed the group's presence in Australia from under 20 employees to more than 2,000.

It gives the group new skills in long-distance rail and road building, as well as mineral extraction.

In the Middle East hub, the Al Raha Beach project is being built in an alliance with Aldar Properties. On an 8.5km stretch of Gulf coast, a series of waterside developments will house a community of 158,000 people. The land reclamation involved calls for 25 million m³ of sand to be shifted into place. At peak, the workforce will run to 30,000 people.

Barclay Mowlem contributed £210m towards turnover and £2m to pre-tax profit.

In the UK, divisional turnover figures were: Construction South £640m (up £60m) Construction North £850m (up £70m) and Specialised Trading £1.3bn (up £300m).

O'Rourke Investments Holdings UK, the ultimate UK parent company, was acquired by Laing O'Rourke Corporation, a company registered in Cyprus.

O'Rourke: "Orderbook strong, 86% of next year's revenues accounted for."

Laing O'Rourke annual results (Six months to 31/03/07)

• Turnover: £3bn (+30%)
• Pre-tax profit: £45m (+32%)

(Contract Journal, 15 August 2007, p 6)