Financial performance - good results in line with expectations
Group revenue of £1.6bn up by more than 10%;
Underlying operating profit of £44m in line with prior year
o Residential and Services second half weighted, as expected;
Divisional breakdown
o Property - strong performance with ROCE of >15% and pipeline of >£1bn;
o Residential - good forward sales position;
o Construction
Resilient performance with margin of 2.1% due to a strict approach to bidding and robust execution;
Improved order book (secured and probable) of £2.6bn (June 2014:£2.5bn); fully secured for 2015;
o Services
Margin of 4.2% (2013: 4.3%) reflecting mobilisation of larger, long-term contracts and expensing bid costs of recent contract successes;
Improved order book (secured and probable) of £3.9bn (June 2014: £3.7bn); fully secured for 2015;
Net debt position better than forecast at £156m (June 2014: net debt £123m), after £37m investment in Property and Residential;
Underlying earnings per share of 51.1p (2013: 54.6p); and
Interim dividend increased by 7% to 24p (2013: 22.5p), reflecting the Board's confidence in the future.
