Caddick Construction’s return to profit contrasted with its parent company’s fortunes, according to its latest accounts.
The construction arm, which accounted for 38 per cent of Caddick Group turnover, tabled a pre-tax profit of £7.4m in the year to 31 August 2023, after it slumped to a £2.3m loss the previous year.
It also achieved a near 40 per cent turnover increase, from £229m to £317.6m, as it recovered from a host of difficult trading conditions, including high inflation, mounting material and labour prices, and the knock-on effects of the war in Ukraine.
Caddick Construction took on more than a dozen staff in the West Midlands, after it opened a new office in Birmingham. It plans to launch a West Midlands subsidiary to run its operations there.
The firm also took on 13 staff in the North West, where it boasted a “much improved” profit margin after a major logistics job at Farington in Lancashire moved forward.
In October 2022, Caddick Construction also bought facade company Speedclad out of administration, which is now set to make a profit in 2024 after it made a small but expected loss this year.
Last year, Caddick Construction managing director Paul Dodsworth told Construction News that the “agility” afforded by being a regional contractor allowed Caddick to quickly step in and acquire Speedclad.
He said the acquisition would enable Caddick to offer a specialism in facade work early on during projects, which would add “extra value to clients”.
However, Caddick Group, which also delivers property work via its Moda Living joint venture with property developer Generate Land, and which owns rugby league team Leeds Rhinos, saw its profit slip from £58m to £35.5m.
Its property business, meanwhile, continued to do well, with build-to-rent schemes moving forward in Glasgow, Birmingham and Hove. Caddick also finished a major industrial job in Leeds and submitted plans for a mixed-use site in Leeds.
The company paid off a £6.2m bank loan during the accounting period.
Meanwhile, the firm noted that Leeds Rhinos incurred losses of £1.3m due to reduced television funding and increased utility costs.
Turnover at the group increased from £491.6m to £575m.
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