Wates posted a total turnover of £931m for 2013 (including share of joint ventures and associate businesses), down 22% from £1,194m in 2012.
You have to go back to 2006 to find the company doing less business in a year, when turnover was £886m.
Profits were less badly affected. Wates Group posted pre-tax profits of £22.3m for 2013, down 13% from £25.7m in 2012.
However, being a private company, there is no outside shareholder pressure to drive for growth every year. All that matters is the business is healthy and there is money in the bank. Wates improved its gross margins in 2013 and has more than £100m in the bank available to reinvest in the business.
Furthermore, the order book climbed by 50% last year to £2.4bn (2012: £1.6bn).
Chief executive Andrew Davies said: “The Wates Group turned in a solid performance in 2013 against the challenge of prevailing market conditions. Whilst turnover was down by 22%, reflecting both some delayed starts and more selective project take-on policies, operating margins improved – comparing extremely well to others in the market."
"Our cash position remains one of the strongest in the industry and gives us the platform from which to continue our investment strategy across all business units in 2014 and beyond."
He continued: "A strong forward order book for 2014 reflects more activity in the sectors in which we operate, but the impact of this is likely to be progressive and will take some time to come through in financial performance. While increased volumes of work may indicate an improving market this year, we believe it will be 2015-16 before we see significant market recovery."
"Our strategy for the next year is to continue to focus on operational excellence, risk management, and careful development of customer relationships through our long-term partnerships and participation in frameworks. We are not immune to some of the issues associated with an upturn in the market, such as material price inflation and labour shortages, but we are in a robust financial position allowing us to enter only into contracts which we believe will deliver commercial value to all stakeholders, including Wates itself."
Wates Group five-year summary
Wates Group turnover history
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