Laing O’Rourke has unveiled pre-tax losses of £43.6m for its latest financial year, as the construction firm claims a no-deal Brexit would pose a minimal risk to its current projects
Laing O’Rourke has filled its annual accounts report today (19 February), several months after they were due. Finance director Stewart McIntyre has said this delay was down to the company’s auditors taking a more intricate look at the potential impact of Brexit.
McIntyre confirmed the group’s three-year financing arrangements was completed on 15 February.
Accounts for the year to 31 March 2018 reveal the group made a pre-tax loss of £43.6m from £66.9m.
Total revenue for the year was down from £3,172.5m in 2017 to £2,928.9m 2018.
The Europe Hub made a statutory profit of £10.3m from a loss of £51.9m last time mainly due to a reduction in losses on the troubled Canadian PFI hospital project.
Laing O’Rourke’s worldwide order book currently stands at £8.1bn.
Group chief executive, Ray O’Rourke said: “We met our key performance targets through a concerted effort across the company to increase our efficiencies and embrace innovation.
“Getting to this point has not been easy, and we have no doubt that the road ahead will be no less challenging. Key to our strategy has been completion of the refinancing of our UK business in February 2019 and our Australian business earlier in 2018. We have maintained our commitment to keep all of our stakeholders, including clients and those in our supply chain, regularly informed of our progress and intentions.
“We see our success, in steps large and small, as a way to inspire confidence and investment in the construction sector at a time when our competitors and members of our supply chain are facing unprecedented obstacles.”
Chairman Sir John Parker added: “I am confident that Laing O’Rourke will continue to exemplify the benefits of adopting best practices learned from other industries – notably aviation and automotive manufacturing – to change the fabric and the face of construction.
“Perhaps never before has our leadership been needed as much as it is needed now. We look forward to that challenge in the year ahead.”
