In the year to 30th April 2023, Van Elle Holdings grew revenue by 19% to a new record high of £148.7m (2022: £124.9m).
Profit before tax was up 50% to £5.4m (2022: £3.6m).
The board said that strong trading momentum since May had continued into the new financial year, with all divisions busy, including its ground engineering services division that serves the house-building sector, although a slowdown from this market is expected to staring kicking in next month.
Less positive is the shrinking order book, down to £30.8m as of 30th April 2023, from £39.0m a year before. This excludes framework agreements and preferred bidder positions, with estimated annual revenues of £30m to £40m.
Van Elle has also been impacted by delays to highways schemes and cancellation of the smart motorway programme, although it is involved in retrofitting missing safety refuges.
Van Elle's operational group structure is reported in three segments. General piling increased revenue by 41% in the year to £54.8m (2022: £39.0m), representing 37% of group revenues.
Specialist piling and rail increased by 2% in the year to £46.6m (2022: £45.8m), representing 31% of group revenues.
Ground engineering services increased by 18% in the year to £47.1m (2022: £40.0m), representing 32% of group revenues.
General piling revenue benefited from high activity levels on major energy and logistics projects. The specialist piling and rail division experienced softer market conditions in the second half of the year, primarily as a result of delays to highways projects. The rail division performed very well, despite some disruption caused by rail strikes in the first quarter of the financial year.
Chief executive Mark Cutler said: “I’m delighted to report a strong set of results, building on last year's excellent progress as we emerged from the pandemic. The breadth of the group's expertise, strength of balance sheet and depth of resource allows us to offer the best value to our customers, with whom we are forging closer long-term partnerships. The actions taken over the last three years are starting to deliver sustainable results that put us firmly on-track to deliver our medium-term financial objectives.”
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