Henry Boot back to half-year profit

26/08/2010

Sheffield-based property and construction firm Henry Boot has returned to half-yearly pre-tax profitability of £9m, turning around the loss of £20.3m during the same period in 2009.
The company's portfolio of investment properties saw a rise in value of £1.7m for the first six months ending 30 June 2010, compared to the £23.6m decrease last year.
It said the results were possible due to a stabilisation in the property market from its low in mid-2009, but warned of challenging times ahead.
Trading profits for the company went from £3.7m to £5.8m, and it has announced plans to increase its interim dividend to 1.35p.
John Sutcliffe, finance director at Henry Boot, said: "It's been a pretty challenging couple of years and it's probably going to be challenging for another two or three years but the market is relatively stable at the moment and it is a market where you can make money if you are careful."
Henry Boot's operations are split into four divisions covering property development, construction, land management and plant hire.
Mr Sutcliffe also said public spending cuts would influence the company's processes.
He added: "A lot of construction companies have done a lot of work for local authorities. We do a lot of work on Decent Homes.
"Over the last three or four years we have refurbished 10,000 units in South Yorkshire and that has been the mainstream of that division."
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