Keltbray announces £530 million order book

A return to underlying profit for civil engineering group Keltbray comes as the company has announced a £530 million order book across all its divisions.

Overall, the Surrey-based group’s pre-tax loss for the year to October 31 2021 decreased from £9.4m to £4.2m. The gross margin was up from 9.3% in 2020 to 13.6%.

Keltbray, which employs 1,544 people, is responsible for Wales’ Core Valley Lines infrastructure and Network Rail contracts, including overhead electrification design.

Turnover fell by 9% to £389m, delivering an operating profit before interest, tax and exceptional items of £5.7m.

“This is a highly creditable performance, especially when the decrease in turnover is taken into the equation,” said Chief Financial Officer Peter Burnside.

A major contributor to this was the Infrastructure Rail and Energy divisions, which performed throughout the pandemic on a ‘business as usual’ basis, supporting the maintenance of the UK’s transport and energy networks.