Revenue at Ward & Burke hits €191m

TURNOVER at Galway-based specialist engineering firm Ward & Burke soared 22pc to

€191.8m last year as it expanded its operations and secured new contracts.

But its pre-tax profit fell 72pc to €3.8m before an adverse foreign exchange impact of €1.8m was factored in, as it invested it expanding its presence in the United States, acquired new plant and equipment, and saw increased competition in Ireland and Canada. The company has invested €40m in plant and related facilities in the last three years.

The group, which employs more than 600 people, has predicted that both sales and profit margins will improve in the next number of years.

Ward & Burke specialises in drainage and sewage projects, but also undertakes other works such as bridge construction, urban regeneration and other major civil engineering and construction contracts. Its clients include Irish Water, part of Ervia, as well as Yorkshire Water.

Ward & Burke is owned equally by Padraig Burke, Michael Ward and Robert Ward.

They anticipate that turnover will rise 15pc this year to

€220.5m and that margins in

2018 will be similar or better to those achieved in 2017.

Accounts for the company show that Ward & Burke generated €48.5m of its revenue in Ireland last year, up from

€23.2m in 2016. Revenue from the UK hit €51.7m last year, compared to €39.9m in 2016. In the rest of the world, primarily Canada and the US, revenue slipped to €91.6m in 2017 from

€93.8m in 2016.

It’s involved in a number of major projects in Ireland, the UK and North America.