Mace profits soar by 30%

Mace has revealed its ninth consecutive increase in yearly profit.

Pre-tax profit at the contractor increased 30% to £19.3m for the year ended December 31 2009.

Turnover for the company building the 1,000ft Shard at London Bridge rose 18% from £617m to £726m.

63% of the company’s turnover came from UK construction, 19% from UK consultancy and 18% from overseas consultancy and construction.

Mace said it had a cash balance of £106m, and expanded into 13 new countries during 2009, bringing the total to 49.

Chairman and chief executive Stephen Pycroft said:

“The company performed robustly in 2009 against a backdrop of challenging trading conditions. In 2010 the quality of the people we employ, our supportive clients and our growing financial strength and capability in our sectors give the board confidence that we will continue to grow and raise the profile of the business.”

Group finance director David Vaughan added: “While we expect our future markets to remain challenging in 2010, we are seeing some signs of recovery in certain markets. We entered 2010 with 76% of our order book secured which gives us confidence of achieving our target of becoming a £1bn company by 2012.”