Morgan Sindall shows there is still life in construction sector

A RARE note of cheer emerged from the construction sector yesterday when Morgan Sindall reported record full-year profits and said it had a "measure of confidence" about the coming year.

The construction group – which employs more than 8,000 people and generates an annual turnover in excess of 2.5 billion – has bucked the downward trend due to its workload in the public and regulated sectors.

Morgan reported a 15 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to 71.4 million and said an order book worth 3.7bn at the start of 2009 gave it "good visibility".

John Morgan, executive chairman, said: "We continue to expect market conditions in 2009 to remain challenging, but we are well placed to emerge from these times as an even stronger business."

The company's Morgan Ashurst construction arm and Morgan Est – its infrastructure services division, which is based in Glasgow – delivered increased profits during the year.

In construction, public-sector work in education and healthcare offset weaker commercial property as operating profits for the division rose by 94 per cent to 9.5m. The division's order book stood at 805m.

Morgan Ashurst's projects in Scotland included the redevelopment of Perth prison and work on schools in both North and South Lanarkshire.

Morgan Est reported buoyant conditions in 2008, driven by investment in the transport, water and energy sectors. The division posted operating profits of 14.4m, up 36 per cent, and an order book of 1.4bn.

Infrastructure projects carried out in the past year included a six-lane stretch of the M74 south of Glasgow and the Clackmannanshire Bridge.

Lovell, Morgan's housing firm, has worked with Midlothian and North Lanarkshire councils and a number of Scottish housing associations in the past year.

Morgan yesterday repeated a previous warning that profits for 2009 were unlikely to match last year's level, but it added it still expected opportunities to emerge in the year ahead.