BAM's UK arms give Dutch parent recession advice

Royal BAM Group's three UK subsidiaries have been advising the Dutch contractor on how to cope with the recession, its annual report reveals.

Royal BAM Group's Supervisory Board, which meets every quarter, called the UK bosses of BAM Construct UK, BAM Nuttall and BAM PPP in to discuss the consequences of the financial crisis, because the UK was the first country in Europe to be affected, according to the report.

The three UK arms have recorded a combined turnover of £1.75bn, with a combined pre-tax profit of £94.4m for the year ended 31 December 2008. That represents a margin of 5.4%.

Meanwhile the total orderbook in the UK stands at £3.2bn.

BAM Nuttall's turnover increased by 10% to £650m, while its pre-tax profit leapt 49% to £28.4m on the back of a number of high profile projects including the construction of the platform for the new Olympic Stadium in Stratford.

BAM Construct UK's turnover was up by 1.5% to a record figure of nearly £1.06bn, while pre-tax profit rose 7.6% to £52.4m.

Chief executive Richard Gregory said: "Over the past year we've shown the ability and the flexibility to succeed in spite of the economic downturn."

Royal Bam Group's overall turn-over was £7.85bn, while pre-tax profit stood at £224m.

BAM Nuttall

• Turnover: £650m
• Pre-tax profit: £28.4m
• Profit margin: 4.4%
• Forward orderbook: £700m+

• Turnover: £1.06bn
• Pre-tax profit: £52.4m
• Profit margin: 4.3%
• Forward orderbook: £2.55bn