Revenue for the year was down 17% to £1,277m (2009: £1,541m), but with operating profit down just 1.8% from £38.9m last time to £38.2m, the operating margin improved to 3.0% (2009: 2.5%).
The order book at the end of 2010 stood at £2,239m, 2.3% up on the £2,189m of 12 months earlier.
Skanska said that the fall in turnover was partly a reflection of market conditions and partly down to the loss of its term contracts with BT at the end of 2009.
President and CEOMike Putnam said, “I am pleased with our results for 2010. They are in line with our targets and expectations and are evidence of the commitment of our staff to the business, and the focus we have all placed on managing Skanska UK to deliver stable results during these challenging market conditions.
“Whilst we expect market trading conditions to remain similar during the coming year, we will continue to carefully select and target the right projects for Skanska focussing upon delivering the expectations of our clients and shareholders alike.
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“The new year marked the start of our new “Profitable Growth” Business Plan for the group. In the UK, we are looking at a number of exciting opportunities and sectors to strengthen our position. These include our focus on the Energy from Waste sector where we are actively working to secure opportunities and Residential Development, which we announced recently. This was followed in January by the purchase of our first development site in Cambridge.
“The year has also started on a high note, with the award of a £30million project to construct the Isaac Newton Academy in Ilford for the London Borough of Redbridge.”
Highlights of 2010 include the diversification into housebuilding and a 25% improvement in the company’s safety record. At the end of 2010, Skanska UK had achieved a third successive annual reduction in lost time accidents and reportable injuries.
Also during the year, as part of its commitment to achieving zero accidents, Skanska launched its Injury Free Environment (IFE) programme. The IFE programme aims to involve everyone to raise the safety values and beliefs to a new level. This approach has proved very successful in the USA with Skanska.
Recent changes in the executive management team include:
- Cecilia Fasth, previously head of ‘Green Business’, is now executive vice president, responsible for the development of Bundled Construction, a term Skanska uses to describe its way of delivering projects by adding finance and development components to design build projects. She will also have responsibility for Skanska UK’s Green Business function.
- Executive vice president Roger Bayliss has taken responsibility for finance. He joined Skanska UK’s executive management team in 2008, and most recently was responsible for business improvement and planning.
- Paul Chandler has been promoted to executive vice president for Building Operations across the UK.
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