Galliford Seek to be ‘well positioned’ for the government’s infrastructure efforts

Galliford Try is “well positioned” to capitalize on the government’s infrastructure commitments, the company said on Thursday as it unveiled a record order book.

The construction company had an order book of £3.8 billion at the end of June, an increase of 2.7 percent on 12 months ago, of which 91 percent was in the public sector.

Deals completed by the company included civil engineering deals on behalf of Hampshire County Council and the Scottish Government.

The group has since been appointed by Wessex Water and Southern Water to work on their planned infrastructure upgrades between 2025 and 2030.

It was also nominated to provide fire protection, security systems and hard FM services as part of an £835 million NHS North of England contract.

Under the previous British government, there were £805 billion of plans for infrastructure spending, including the High Speed ​​Line 2 between London and Birmingham.

The new government has pledged to implement a decade-long infrastructure strategy and build 1.5 million new homes in five years.

However, the Guardian reports that ministers were told to plan for cuts to their investment plans of up to 10 percent before this month’s budget.

Despite this, Bill Hocking, CEO of Galliford Try, said: ‘Britain’s planned and necessary investment in economic and social infrastructure continues to support growth in our chosen markets.’

Galliford Try’s pre-tax profits tripled to £30.9m in the year to June 2024, partly thanks to strong organic growth.

Total sales rose 27.2 percent to £1.8 billion as the company completed work delayed by inflationary pressures and public sector procurement issues.

Following the result, the London-based company plans to buy back £10m of shares and pay a final dividend of 11.5p per share, up from 7.5p per share the previous year.

Analysts at Peel Hunt said: ‘Galliford Try is in excellent form, delivering strategic, operational and financial progress. Despite their outperformance, we believe the shares represent excellent value.”

Galliford Try shares were up 5 per cent at 315p late on Thursday morning, taking their gains since the start of the year to around 39 per cent.