{"id":496530,"date":"2024-03-26T11:55:16","date_gmt":"2024-03-26T11:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=496530"},"modified":"2024-04-15T13:59:03","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T12:59:03","slug":"wates-joins-2bn-revenue-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/contractors\/wates\/wates-joins-2bn-revenue-club-26-03-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Wates joins \u00a32bn revenue club"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wates has joined the handful of UK contractors that turn over more than \u00a32bn, after reporting a 17.6 per cent increase in revenue to \u00a32.1bn.<\/p>\n

The Surrey-headquartered company also posted a 43 per cent increase in pre-tax profit, from \u00a333.7m to \u00a344.9m, for the year to 31 December 2023. Its pre-tax profit margin increased from 1.66 to 2.14 per cent.<\/p>\n

The company\u2019s latest turnover figure sees it join five other contractors that turned over more than \u00a32bn in their last accounts: Balfour Beatty, Morgan Sindall, Kier, Laing O\u2019Rourke and Amey. Neither Bam nor Mace achieved the figure, with revenues of \u00a31.99bn and \u00a31.93bn respectively.<\/p>\n

Each of Wates\u2019 divisions saw increased revenue last year, with the construction division crossing the \u00a31bn revenue mark after turning over \u00a31.17bn, a 22 per cent increase from \u00a3960m. Average project size in the construction division increased to \u00a348.3m.<\/p>\n

Wates\u2019 property services, residential and development businesses saw revenues of \u00a3544.7m, \u00a3322.7m and \u00a3141.3m respectively.<\/p>\n

Wates\u2019 forward order book ticked up by \u00a3100m last year to \u00a38.5bn, despite a \u00a3300m drop-off in the group\u2019s construction order book. Its year-end cash fell from \u00a3206.9m to \u00a3138m.<\/p>\n

Wates chief executive Eoghan O\u2019Lionaird told Construction News<\/em> he was pleased with the financial results given the market conditions and suggested he could not guarantee a turnover above \u00a32bn or a margin above 2 per cent in 2025.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re delighted with the results: margin up strongly, by 37 per cent, on revenues north of \u00a32bn for the first time. We couldn’t be more pleased,\u201d he said, adding that Wates\u2019 order book had grown \u201cin a market that, at least by our estimates, was probably flat or went backwards\u201d.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Lionaird declined to give a turnover prediction for its 2024 financial year, saying he had \u201cgot out of the forecasting turnover mode, having burned my fingers for some years\u201d. Last year, however, he correctly predicted to CN<\/em><\/a> that the company\u2019s turnover would hit \u00a32.1bn.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Lionaird instead said that the company\u2019s \u201cstrong order book suggests [\u2026] we can continue to grow the business\u201d, adding: \u201cIf we\u2019re able to do that, again, in the context of this market, we should be very pleased.\u201d<\/p>\n

The executive, who took up his post at Wates in February 2023, also suggested Wates would be doing well to obtain a similar margin \u2013 but stressed that margin was a key focus for the business.<\/p>\n

\u201cTwo per cent profitability in this market, in the built environment UK, isn\u2019t easy for anybody. We certainly had to work hard for it [and] everybody else does too,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very keen on improving the margin year on year even a smidge \u2013 the revenue is interesting, and some people will hang their hat on \u00a32bn and say \u2018this is success now for us\u2019 \u2013 [but] we\u2019re keen to continue taking away stuff, out of the organisation, using lean methods.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wates has joined the handful of UK contractors that turn over more than \u00a32bn, after reporting a 17.6 per cent increase in revenue to \u00a32.1bn. The Surrey-headquartered company also posted a 43 per cent increase in pre-tax profit, from \u00a333.7m to \u00a344.9m, for the year to 31 December 2023. Its pre-tax profit margin increased from …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90383,"featured_media":489498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[552,545],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-496530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-financial","category-wates"],"yoast_head":"\nWates joins \u00a32bn revenue club | Construction News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Wates has joined the handful of UK contractors that turn over more than \u00a32bn, after reporting a 17.6 per cent increase in revenue to \u00a32.1bn. 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