Profit down 18% at Renew Holdings

Pre-tax profit at Renew Holdings fell 18% from £6.7m to £4.9m in the year to 30 September 2009.

After one-off items, which included £2.2m of redundancy costs, the profit figure was down 83% to £1.2m.

Meanwhile turnover dropped 19% from £390.6m in 2008 to £316.6m.

The group said its Specialist Building division had seen worsening conditions result in its revenues slashed from £294.6m last year to £202.4m.

These reductions were principally experienced in the retail and non-specialist sectors which accounted for 27% of Specialist Building revenue in 2009 compared to 46% in 2008. The division delivered operating profits prior to exceptional items and amortisation charges of £2.5m (2008: £4.9m).

Meanwhile, the group continues to focus its efforts on its specialist engineering division, where turnover grew from £93.3m to £114.8m.

The company said: “Our aim is to increase revenue in specialist engineering both organically and by acquisition, while maintaining operating margins in target range of 3% to 4%.

As of 30 September 2009, the Group’s order book stood at £202m, compared with £219m last year.

Chairman Roy Harrison said: “The continuing difficult market presents challenges however our debt free balance sheet with available cash resources puts Renew in a position of strength. I am confident that the Group will deliver a resilient performance and trade profitably through the recession.”