Firm wants operating number to be 3% by next year
Galliford Try has said it is on target to hit its 3% margin target by 2026 after the firm posted an improved set of numbers in the half year.
The building and civils contractor said revenue was up 13% to £923m in the six months to December 2024 with pre-tax profit jumping 54% to £20m.
It has set itself an operating margin target of 3% for the year to June 2026 and wants this figure to be 4% by 2030.
In its latest results, Galliford Try said margins were up from 2.5% to 2.7% with chief executive Bill Hocking saying: “We’re in good shape. We’ve said we want to be more than £2.2bn [in revenue] by 2030 but the important thing is the margin.”
He added: “The government’s growth agenda is good for construction. It stimulates the economy and they get long-term assets.”
The firm’s average month-end net cash was up a third to £176m and Hocking said: “Clients want to work with companies who have strong balance sheets and that can finish the job. We also want to become a destination employer and if [potential] employees look at a balance sheet and it looks a bit ropey, they’re not going to come.”
Galliford Try said it had been unaffected by the hold-ups caused by the gateway 2 procedure under building safety legislation because the residential jobs it worked were mainly low-rise and outside the new rules.
The firm is moving into the affordable housing market to carry out contractor-only work and is already bidding jobs with the aim to have a turnover in the sector of £250m by 2030.
Its group order book at the half-year was up 6% to £3.9bn.
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