Foster posts £18.5m loss

Norman Foster was awarded a £90,000 pay rise last year despite his practice posting widening losses.

Foster + Partners posted a loss for the 12 months to the end of April 2010 of £18.5m on the back of continuing writedowns, interest payments and restructuring charges.

The loss represents an increase on the £18m loss recorded for the same period last year.

Accounts filed at Companies House reveal that the highest paid director at Foster + Partners, understood to be Foster who is chairman of the practice, earned £1.8m, up from the previous year’s £1.7m when his pay increased £500,000.

Turnover at the practice tumbled 13% to £134m, down from £154m for the same period last year as the global financial crisis continued to impact on high profile projects around the world.

Stripping out the exceptional items operating profit fell 15% to £25m from £29.4m for the previous year.

The loss once again includes a £15.4m write down, attributable to the minority stake held in the practice by private equity group 3i since 2007, unchanged from last year.

The interest bill declined slightly to £40m from £41m, while restructuring costs were sharply down at £245,000 against £4.7m last time. Net debt was £319m against £304m a year earlier.

Staff levels at the practice have fallen to under 1,000, spread over 12 international offices, down from more than 1200 last year.

The accounts also reveal that more than 90% of Foster and Partners work is now generated outside the UK (see box), against under 70% three years ago.

Foster said following the restructuring and the involvement of 3i as a partner in the practice he and others had been “liberated to be able to concentrate on what they do best”.