Laing O’Rourke has said it would not be able to file its annual finance report until Christmas at the earliest, citing “delays with historic turbulence in the construction sector”
Chief Executive Ray O’Rourke said despite meeting all performance targets, the business was disappointed to have been “defeated by process”, with the FY18 accounts delayed.
The collapse of a number of companies in the construction industry has impacted the approach of banks, insurers, regulators and auditors – and ultimately will prevent Laing O’Rourke closing out its formal statements in the coming weeks, the company stated.
Laing O’Rourke also said it now has an outline agreement with its primary banking partners for UK refinancing.
O’Rourke said: “Our industry has witnessed the demise of a number of companies and the withdrawal of significant funding this year. This has put enormous pressure on parties across the sector, and slowed down all regulatory, financial and administrative processes.
“Three million jobs in the UK rely on construction, and we have nation-building infrastructure to deliver. It is a tragedy to see the industry starved of oxygen like this.
“We have built a pipeline of high-quality projects. Laing O’Rourke is committed to play its part, to drive enhanced confidence and investment in the sector.”
The company also revealed that its construction business currently takes an average of 53 days to pay invoices. This comprises 24% paid within 30 days, 35% within 31-60 days and 41% in more than 61 days.
The performance makes Laing O’Rourke one of the five slowest-paying main contractors, just ahead of Kier and Balfour Beatty, which both take 54 days according to Build UK figures.
O’Rourke vowed that the company would focus on improving payments to its supply chain during the next financial year now that a turnaround of the business was complete.
However, he urged the government to help by resetting “costly and inefficient procurement policies”, removing “outdated adversarial contracts and security instruments”, and settling its own accounts promptly.
