Total revenues were £1,097m (2009: £1,010m). Underlying pre'tax profits reached £31.3m (2009: adjusted to £24.8m).
An operating margin of 2.7% was achieved in the construction division, up from 2.5% last time, on revenues up 7% to £728m (2009: £678m). Construction order books have been maintained at £2.1bn (30 June 2010: £2.1bn) at 31 December 2010. With the help of more than 60 framework contracts, all targeted revenue for the current financial year and 65% of targeted revenue for 2011/12 is secure or probable.
Support Services’ operating margin was 4.5% (2009: 4.4%), making an operaitng profit of £10.9m on revenues up 6% to £243m (2009: £230m). Support Services order books have remained steady at £2.0bn (June 2010: £2.1bn).
As evidence by the acquisition of solar energy specialist Beco during the period, Kier sees its Support Services division as ripe for further growth, particularly in facilities management and environmental services.
Kier Partnership Homes generated revenue of £60m (2009: £75m) in the six months to 31 December 2010 and an operating profit of £1.7m on 464 completions. In the same period of 2009, the division made a £300,000 operating loss (excluding land transactions) on 488 completions.
Chief executive Paul Sheffield said: "Kier continues to perform well and in line with expectations despite the current challenging economic environment. The group has delivered good underlying profits and cash generation, and it has also maintained robust order books since the June year end.
"Our success is underpinned by our strong track record, geographic coverage, deep'rooted customer relationships and an increasing number of framework agreements and collaborative partnerships.
"We continue to attract a wide variety of opportunities in our divisions and are encouraged by the prospects we see in markets such as power, infrastructure, commercial, mixed'use regeneration and overseas.”
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