Connaught buys water firm as profit leaps 37%

Connaught has announced record end-of-year results, with pre-tax profit up 37%.

The property management group also announced the acquisition of water treatment firm Watertech for £9.1m.

Connaught has seen revenue jump by almost a third in the year ending 31 August 2007, to £396m from £300m in 2006. Pre-tax profit hit £17.8m, up from £13m last year. The group’s operating margins increased from 4.7% to 5.1%.

The group’s order book now stands at £2.1bn, an increase of £400m on last year’s figure.

The group has made a series of high-profile acquisitions in the past year, including last month’s acquisition of health and safety compliance specialist National Britannia for £91m.

Today’s announcement of its Watertech buy is the fourth acquisition in the past two months, on top of the September purchases of electrical testing firm PCL and water testing business Environment Plus for a combined total of £4.3m

Chairman Mark Tincknell said: “We are well positioned for continued strong growth, both organically and through acquisitions. Connaught's investment has laid the foundations for the creation of a much larger business. The forward momentum is unprecedented in the Group's history.”