Galliford boss to leave after set of record profits
GALLIFORD Try’s outgoing executive chairman Greg Fitzgerald will leave the company on a high note after unveiling a record set of full-year profits, buoyed by a string of contract wins and a recovery in the construction and housing markets.
Fitzgerald joined Galliford under one of its previous guises more than three decades ago when he was fresh out of school. He will hand over the reins to new chief executive Peter Truscott in January, declaring 2015 one of Galliford’s best years of his career.
“Galliford has never been in such a great position – all of that against a background of encouraging economics signs for all of our business,” he told City A.M.
“On top of revenues going up 30 per cent, we made two acquisitions [Miller Construction and Shepherd Homes], which we got at a really good price at the start of the upturn,” he added.
Revenues were £2.35bn for the year to 30 June, boosted by its acquisition of Miller last year, while pre-tax profits jumped 20 per cent to £114m.
Galliford’s construction order book stood at £3.8bn, compared with £3bn last year, with 90 per cent of this year’s revenue already secured, Fitzgerald said.
Housebuilding arm Linden Homes recorded an 11 per cent rise in revenue to £1.1bn after completing 3,177 homes. Its Partnerships arm, which builds affordable homes, saw revenues jump 36 per cent to £329m.