The Building top 50 | Features

Top contractors and housebuilders ranked by 1998 turnover
			Turnover	Year end	Contracting	Housing	Property	Other
1998	1997		£000		£000	£000	£000	£000
1	1	Amec	3 392 800	Dec-98	2 172 500	0	418 400	801 900
2	2	Tarmac	3 160 300	Dec-98	1 890 100	0	0	1 270 200
3	4	Bovis Construction	2 300 000	Dec-98	2 300 000	0	0	0
4	3	Balfour Beatty*	2 139 700	Dec-98	2 139 700	0	0	0
5	5	Laing	1 616 600	Dec-98	1 193 800	361 100	26 600	35 100
6	6	Mowlem	1 494 000	Dec-98	1 042 000	0	18 000	434 000
7	8	Wimpey	1 401 800	Dec-98	0	1 374 800	27 000	0
8	7	Taylor Woodrow	1 400 500	Dec-98	613 500	540 400	87 700	158 900
9	9	Kvaerner Construction	1 070 560	Dec-98	1 070 560	0	0	0
10	10	Barratt Developments	897 000	Jun-98	0	897 000	0	0
11	–	HBG/Edmund Nuttall	875 000	Dec-98	875 000	0	0	0
12	11	Kier	749 600	Jun-98	685 100	64 500	0	0
13	12	Alfred McAlpine	723 795	Dec-98	288 774	358 296	0	76 725
14	17	Tilbury Douglas	641 100	Dec-98	360 200	25 800	0	255100
15	15	Beazer	631 000	Jun-98	0	631 000	0	0
16	25	Jarvis	627 896	Mar-99	165 395	0	25 179	437 322
17	18	Berkeley	599 596	Apr-98	0	589 467	10 129	0
18	14	Bryant	585 700	May-98	82 000	503 700	0	0
19	16	Persimmon	572 407	Dec-98	0	572 407	0	0
20	19	Wilson Bowden	532 500	Dec-98	0	421 800	110 700	0
21	28	Newarthill	490 471	Oct-98	435 509	0	17 716	37 246
22	22	Amey	471 015	Dec-98	228 482	0	0	242 533
23	26	Crest Nicholson	465 400	Oct-98	158 800	269 900	36 700	0
24	21	Bellway	444 873	Jul-98	0	444 873	0	0
25	20	Birse	444 342	Apr-98	434 995	140	900	8 307
26	27	Morgan Sindall	424 567	Dec-98	254 600	0	7 000	162 967
27	43	R Mansell*	420 643	Dec-98	420 643	0	0	0
28	30	Westbury	417 243	Feb-99	0	417 243	0	0
29	23	Morrison Construction	413 691	Mar-99	84 556	0	231 933	97 202
30	13	Costain	391 500	Dec-98	391 500	0	0	0
31	29	Wilson Connolly	380 800	Dec-98	0	378 000	2 800	0
32	24	Shepherd Building	378 600	Jun-98	206 338	0	0	172 262
33	31	Miller	365 758	Dec-98	247 939	73 747	44 072	0
34	32	Norwest Holst*	334 430	Dec-98	334 430	0	0	0
35	33	Allen	321 095	Mar-99	210 642	37 536	4 069	68 848
36	34	Redrow	307 233	Jun-98	0	296 084	11 149	0
37	–	Ballast Wiltshier	301 201	Dec-98	301 201	0	0	0
38	37	Wates Construction*	288 991	Dec-98	288 991	0	0	0
39	36	Keller	266 854	Dec-98	266 854	0	0	0
40	39	Lovell*	266 827	Sep-98	155 442	111 385	0	0
41	40	Bowmer & Kirkland*	263 384	Aug-98	263 384	0	0	0
42	38	Willmott Dixon*	255 836	Dec-98	255 836	0	0	0
43	41	MJ Gleeson*	247 911	Jun-98	247 911	0	0	0
44	35	Bovis Homes	234 285	Dec-98	0	234 285	0	0
45	42	Countryside Properties	209 501	Sep-98	0	180 858	28 643	0
46	45	Prowting	199 536	Feb-99	0	199 536	0	0
47	44	Galliford	183 632	Jun-98	151 121	32 290	0	221
48	46	Henry Boot*	172 120	Dec-98	172 120	0	0	0
49	47	McNicholas Construction	171 564	Mar-98	171 564	0	0	0
50	48	Try	150 611	Dec-98	117 672	29 278	0	3 661
		Total	35 095 768		20 679 159	9 045 425	1 108 690	4 262 494


Notes * Full split of activities not provided in reports and accounts, therefore turnover and/or profit assigned to contracting Total profit refers to pre-tax profit. Splits refer in most cases to operating profit, taking account of exceptional items. Total of splits plus interest and non–trading = pre-tax profit * Interest and non-trading refers in general to net interest payments/receipts and other non-trading income or losses Bovis Construction profit data is operating profit only; turnover figure is estimated HBG/Edmund Nuttall data taken from HBG Group accounts and converted to sterling Kvaerner Construction data taken from Kvaerner Group accounts and converted to sterling Any omissions from the top 50 are because companies were unable to provide 1998 data
Analysis by Martin Hewes, Hewes & Associates, tel 01428-641518, e-mail: Hewes@BTinternet.com

Top contractors and housebuilders ranked by 1998 pre–tax profit
			Profit**	Year end	Contracting	Housing	Property	Other	Interest and non–trading***
1998	1997		£000		£000	£000	£000	£000	£000
1	1	Tarmac	131 400	Dec-98	35 700	0	0	150 000	–54 300
2	3	Berkeley	100 320	Apr-98	0	92 717	3 811	0	3 792
3	2	Taylor Woodrow	100 300	Dec-98	610 00	56 300	22 900	15 000	0
4	4	Barratt Developments	93 300	Jun-98	0	96 600	0	0	–3 300
5	6	Wilson Bowden	88 500	Dec-98	0	67 300	19 000	0	2 200
6	7	Wimpey	85 100	Dec-98	0	105 800	1 100	0	–21 800
7	8	Beazer	79 200	Jun-98	0	84 200	0	0	–5 000
8	9	Balfour Beatty	75 400	Dec-98	61 400	0	0	0	14 000
9	5	Amec	69 200	Dec-98	20 600	0	17 600	38 300	–7 300
10	11	Bellway	60 723	Jul-98	0	64 917	0	0	–4 194
11	10	Persimmon	60 533	Dec-98	0	73 222	0	0	–12 689
12	12	Bryant	53 300	May-98	1 700	60 800	0	0	–9 200
13	16	Redrow	48 158	Jun-98	0	45 539	2 274	0	345
14	14	Bovis Homes	45 022	Dec-98	0	45 128	0	0	–106
15	13	Wilson Connolly	44 500	Dec-98	0	46 100	–1 600	0	0
16	18	Westbury	42 576	Feb-99	0	50 034	0	0	–7 458
17	50	Mowlem	39 400	Dec-98	12 000	0	–600	29 900	–1 900
18	15	Jarvis	34 435	Mar-99	13 624	0	3 501	28 179	–10 869
19	22	Crest Nicholson	28 100	Oct-98	400	32 300	3 200	0	–7 800
20	21	Alfred McAlpine	24 569	Dec-98	9 575	32 445	0	–1 045	–16 406
21	20	Morrison Construction	24 053	Mar-99	5 509	0	18 254	4 667	–4 377
22	19	Tilbury Douglas	23 600	Dec-98	7 500	3 100	0	21 300	–8 300
23	24	Bovis Construction	21 000	Dec-98	21 000	0	0	0	0
24	17	Laing	20 100	Dec-98	–24 400	31 500	6 100	8 200	–1 300
25	26	Amey	18 741	Dec-98	2 270	0	0	16 471	0
26	23	Prowting	18 089	Feb-99	0	21 477	0	0	–3 388
27	25	Allen	18 009	Mar-99	4 165	3 863	770	13 464	–4 253
28	27	Keller	16 702	Dec-98	17 043	0	0	0	–341
29	42	Shepherd Building	15 100	Jun-98	–952	0	0	16 052	0
30	28	Miller	14 809	Dec-98	1 532	4 394	10 099	0	–1 216
31	32	Countryside Properties	14 607	Sep-98	0	17 736	1 256	0	–4 385
32	–	HBG/Edmund Nuttall	14 063	Dec-98	14 062.5	0	0	0	0
33	31	MJ Gleeson*	12 715	Jun-98	13 941	0	0	0	–1 226
34	36	Newarthill	11 286	Oct-98	1 408	0	6 738	936	2 204
35	34	Kier	10 800	Jun-98	3 200	7 900	0	0	–300
36	30	Henry Boot*	10 592	Dec-98	10 010	0	0	0	582
37	35	Morgan Sindall	9 760	Dec-98	2 102	0	1 548	6 306	–196
38	41	Bowmer & Kirkland*	9 257	Aug-98	6 765	0	0	0	2 492
39	39	Wates Construction*	6 783	Dec-98	3 443	0	0	0	3 340
40	37	Norwest Holst*	6 713	Dec-98	–26	0	0	0	6 739
41	38	McNicholas Construction	5 874	Mar-98	5 884	0	0	0	–10
42	40	R Mansell*	5 231	Dec-98	3 973	0	0	0	1 258
43	46	Birse	5 162	Apr-98	4 105	58	721	1 165	–887
44	47	Kvaerner Construction	5 120	Dec-98	1 920	0	0	0	3 200
45	44	Galliford	3 830	Jun-98	1 951	4 073	0	–245	–1 949
46	45	Try	3 406	Dec-98	1 022	3 590	0	–964	–242
47	43	Willmott Dixon*	2 516	Dec-98	3 254	0	0	0	–738
48	–	Ballast Wiltshier	1 418	Dec-98	594	0	0	0	824
49	49	Costain	500	Dec-98	–2 400	0	0	0	2 900
50	48	Lovell*	–3 194	Sep-98	836	0	0	0	–4 030
		Total	1 630 678		270 810	1 051 093	116 672	347 686	–155 584

Top contractors and housebuilders ranked by 1998 operating margin
		%
1	Bovis Homes	19.3
2	Wilson Bowden	16.2
3	Berkeley	16.1
4	Redrow	15.6
5	Bellway	14.6
6	Beazer	13.3
7	Persimmon	12.8
8	Westbury	12.0
9	Wilson Connolly	11.7
10	Barratt Developments	10.8
11	Prowting	10.8
12	Bryant	10.7
13	Countryside Properties	9.1
14	Crest Nicholson	7.7
15	Wimpey	7.6
16	Jarvis	7.2
17	Taylor Woodrow	7.2
18	Allen	6.9
19	Morrison Construction	6.9
20	Keller	6.4
21	Tarmac	5.9
22	Henry Boot	5.8
23	Alfred McAlpine	5.7
24	MJ Gleeson	5.6
25	Tilbury Douglas	5.0
26	Miller Group	4.4
27	Shepherd Building	4.0
28	Amey	4.0
29	McNicholas Construction	3.4
30	Galliford	3.1
31	Balfour Beatty	2.9
32	Mowlem	2.8
33	Bowmer & Kirkland	2.6
34	Try	2.4
35	Morgan Sindall	2.3
36	Amec	2.3
37	Newarthill	1.9
38	HBG/Edmund Nuttall	1.6
39	Kier	1.5
40	Birse	1.4
41	Laing	1.3
42	Willmott Dixon	1.3
43	Wates Construction	1.2
44	R Mansell	0.9
45	Bovis Construction	0.9
46	Lovell	0.3
47	Ballast Wiltshier	0.2
48	Kvaerner Construction	0.2
49	Norwest Holst	–0.0
50	Costain	–0.6
	Average	5.9

Contractors and housebuilders ranked by employees’ average pay in 1998
1998	1997		Average pay 1998 (wages only £000)	Average pay 1997 (wages only £000)	% change
1	1	Berkeley	31.8	29.4	8
2	–	Birse	25.3	23.7	7
3	3	Morgan Sindall	24.9	24.6	1
4	9	Miller	24.8	22.8	9
5	5	Norwest Holst	24.5	23.3	5
6	16	Wates Construction	24.2	20.9	16
7	7	Amec	24.2	22.8	6
8	17	Lovell	24.1	20.5	18
9	26	Bowmer & Kirkland	23.8	18.9	26
10	8	Try	23.6	22.8	4
11	6	Crest Nicholson	23.5	22.8	3
12	10	Newarthill	22.8	22.4	2
13	4	McNicholas Construction	22.7	24.4	–7
14	13	Bovis Homes	22.6	21.7	4
15	–	Keller	22.5	25.0	–10
16	18	Bryant	21.8	20.2	8
17	30	Wimpey	21.4	18.5	15
18	23	MJ Gleeson	20.9	19.0	10
19	29	Willmott Dixon	20.8	18.6	12
20	22	Amey	20.8	19.2	8
21	14	Westbury	20.7	21.6	–4
22	24	Prowting	20.4	19.0	7
23	19	Tilbury Douglas	20.2	20.1	1
24	28	Persimmon	20.1	18.8	7
25	36	Barratt Developments	20.1	18.1	11
26	–	Ballast Wiltshier	19.7	19.1	3
27	32	Mowlem	19.7	18.4	7
28	21	Alfred McAlpine	19.3	19.3	0
29	11	R Mansell	19.3	22.2	–13
30	20	Countryside Properties	19.2	19.5	–1
31	31	Tarmac	18.9	18.5	3
32	27	Wilson Bowden	18.9	18.8	0
33	34	Galliford	18.8	18.1	4
34	35	Beazer	18.7	17.9	5
35	39	Shepherd Building	18.7	17.0	10
36	15	Bellway	18.6	21.2	–12
37	37	Redrow	18.1	17.4	4
38	33	Laing	17.6	17.2	2
39	38	Wilson Connolly	17.2	17.1	1
40	40	Henry Boot	17.0	16.6	2
41	41	Kier	16.4	15.7	4
42	42	Taylor Woodrow	15.5	13.5	15
43	–	Costain	11.7	11.1	6
44	–	Kvaerner Construction	na	na
45	–	Morrison Construction	na	18.5
46	–	Jarvis	na	19.7
47	–	HBG/Edmund Nuttall	na	na
48	–	Bovis Construction	na	na
49	12	Balfour Beatty	na	22.0
50	–	Allen	na	18.3
			1998	1997
		Average	20.8	19.9	4

Remuneration of highest–paid directors (excluding pensions), ranked by 1998 total
1998	1997		1998 Total (£000s)	Basic (£000s)	Bonus (£000s)	1997 Total (£000s)	Basic (£000s)	Bonus (£000s)
1	5	McNicholas Construction	896	na	na	475	na	na
2	3	Tarmac	667	410	257	554	380	174
3	2	Wilson Bowden	605	225	380	570	225	345
4	12	Persimmon	568	116	452	519	65	454
5	4	Amec	561	na	na	521	356	165
6	17	Berkeley	483	200	283	314	200	114
7	1	Bellway	452	274	178	582	263	319
8	14	Bryant	403	287	116	364	272	92
9	16	Beazer	400	260	140	324	210	114
10	15	Barratt Developments	398	281	117	354	270	84
11	11	Alfred McAlpine	394	285	109	372	260	112
12	25	Amey	394	255	139	257	232	25
13	10	Mowlem	374	256	118	376	238	138
14	32	Miller	360	na	na	199	na	na
15	8	Wimpey	333	206	127	414	284	130
16	6	Bovis Homes	330	214	116	472	189	283
17	7	R Mansell	326	216	110	424	102	322
18	13	Laing	321	280	41	364	250	114
19	21	Newarthill	314	na	na	275	na	na
20	24	Tilbury Douglas	313	163	150	262	138	124
21	19	Countryside Properties	312	130	182	288	130	158
22	26	Redrow	303	230	73	253	200	53
23	23	Crest Nicholson	288	208	80	263	174	89
24	9	Taylor Woodrow	279	187	92	398	286	112
25	22	Westbury	279	190	89	272	165	107
26	29	Keller	278	181	97	241	167	74
27	27	Try	270	173	97	253	161	92
28	33	Morgan Sindall	261	140	121	196	110	86
29	35	Shepherd Building	261	na	na	191	na	na
30	18	Wilson Connolly	254	220	34	300	200	100
31	28	Norwest Holst	246	na	na	242	na	na
32	30	Kier	240	206	34	221	190	31
33	40	Costain	210	200	10	152	145	7
34	34	Lovell	200	162	38	194	155	39
35	31	Wates Construction	193	na	na	209	na	na
36	36	Henry Boot	191	138	53	191	133	58
37	37	Willmott Dixon	184	na	na	181	na	na
38	39	Prowting	165	158	7	167	133	34
39	41	Galliford	140	105	35	132	100	32
40	42	MJ Gleeson	136	130	6	131	124	7
41	–	Birse	133	125	8	131	125	6
42	–	Ballast Wiltshier	132	na	na	126	na	na
		Total	13 847			12 724
		Average pay	329.69			302.95
		% rise	8.8