Property services firm says loss was owing to refinancing and restructuring

Styles & Wood has announced a pre-tax loss of £1.8m after refinancing and restructuring wiped out its slim profit.

In its preliminary results for the year ended December, the property services firm announced a fall in revenue from £139m to £243m in 2008. Pre-tax profit, before refinancing and restructuring costs, rose from £0.2m to £0.7m. But once those one-off costs were taken into consideration the firm made a loss of £1.8m.

Ivan McKeever, chief executive of Styles & Wood Group, said: "Following a major refinancing exercise we are pleased to have exited 2009 with a strong balance sheet and a much more efficient business, as reflected by the improved gross margin [up to 6.4% from 4.3% in 2008].

"While retail will remain core to the business, we anticipate that the office fit out and refurbishment market will recover earlier than other sectors. We will therefore pursue further opportunities in this arena, as well as in leisure and the public sector, where we believe there is demand for our services.”

The interim statement said that “tough decisions” were made regarding staffing during 2009.

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