Broadway Malyan expansion leads to 25% rise in profit

Architect Broadway Malyan has reported a jump in pre-tax profit of 25% after successful expansion in the UK and Europe.

Pre-tax profit at Broadway Malyan Holdings, which has offices in Portugal, Spain and Poland, increased to £1.73m for the period ending April 2006, compared with £1.38m for the same period the year before. Turnover at the firm, which employs 413 people, rose 10% to £31m, compared with £29m the previous year.

Gary Whittle, UK director, said the firm’s expansion plan was starting to pay off but that it had only had a “reasonable” year. He said: “This year’s profit increase is down to recent expansion, and the maturing of our European performance and regional offices. Mann Island in Liverpool was generated from our Manchester office, which we began investing in nearly 10 years ago.”

He added: “We don’t feel we had a particularly good year. We’ve had better profit on reduced turnover previously. But we’re in a strong position. We’ve increased turnover and retain profitability.”

Last tax year, 3% of turnover came from the rest of the world, compared with none the previous year; 14% came from Europe and 83% from the UK.

The firm’s 15 directors were paid £1.9m, compared with £2.3m last year. The directors recommended a dividend of 24p a share, amounting to £120,120.