B&K says focus has been on strengthening balance sheet to give confidence to clients

Profit at Bowmer & Kirland fell last year as the firm said its numbers were hit by the impact of inflation and subcontractor failures.

B&K said pre-tax profit was down 16% to £53m in the year to August 2023 and in a note accompanying the accounts, chairman Jack Kirkland said: “Our construction companies performed well albeit returns were impacted by inflation, a small number of difficult projects and some subcontractor insolvencies.” Operating profit was down from £47m to £24m.

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B&K said it was concentrating on strengthening its balance sheet

Kirkland added that a “priority” for the business was to strengthen its balance sheet. “[This] provides comfort to our construction clients and enables us to be nimble when dealing with acquisition opportunities.”

Last year, B&K year bought Osborne’s offsite business for an undisclosed sum while in March it completed the purchase of 60-year-old Adcock Refrigeration for an undisclosed sum.

B&K’s cash balance at the year-end was £459m, a fall from the £502m it posted in 2022.

Revenue during the period was up 8% to £1.2bn.