Laidlaw Scott owner Mears' revenue and profits rise

MEARS – the housing repair group that owns Glasgow-based building and maintenance contractor Laidlaw Scott – yesterday heralded "record results".

Revenue in 2008 was 420.4 million up by 38 per cent compared with the previous year. Pre-tax profit rose by 7 per cent to 16.6m.

Chairman Bob Holt said the company's order book stood at 1.6 billion and that 80 per cent of its revenue came from public-sector contracts, including social housing and local authorities.

Holt said: "These are defensive sectors where spend is largely non-discretionary and which afford us substantial immunity from bad debts."

Laidlaw Scott – which Mears bought for 2.8m in 2006 – has "performed well", the group said yesterday, but it did not give a breakdown for the Scottish business.

Mears, which has a market cap of about 180m, said it had won contracts worth more than 460m in the past 12 months.

Holt added: "We continue to place great emphasis on winning good-quality contracts that can provide clear and sustainable margins.

"The sales pipeline remains buoyant and we have a number of significant opportunities at an advanced stage of the bidding process."