Pre-tax profit at Multiplex Construction Europe fell by more than a third last year although turnover grew by 16 per cent, according to the contractor’s latest annual accounts.
It made a pre-tax profit of £19.6m for the year to 31 December 2024, down by 37 per cent on the previous year’s £31m.
In his strategic report accompanying the accounts, the firm’s managing director Callum Tuckett said: “The difference in profitability is a result of significant projects nearing completion in 2023 and secured projects starting in 2024.”
He added that a “focus on continuous technical and operational improvements will enhance future productivity and improve profitability”.
Turnover rose from £675.4m in 2023 – which put the firm in 30th place in the latest CN100 ranking of top UK contractors – to £780m the year after.
Higher revenue and lower profit meant the firm’s margin narrowed from 4.6 to 2.5 per cent.
Mutliplex ended 2024 with £34.6m of cash at hand, down from £36.8m the year before.
The firm had no external loans or borrowings “and is not reliant on external funding for either working capital or investment capital”, the accounts stated.
Multiplex booked £6.3m in additional defects provisions in 2024, leaving it with a year-end balance of £30m.
The accounts did not specify if any provisions were connected to the Building Safety Act 2022, although the firm said it “continued to engage and collaborate with clients and contractors to enhance our competence framework and management processes to meet any additional specific requirements in 2024”.
Tuckett said Multiplex completed two projects worth a combined £1bn last year, and the firm took third place in data provider Glenigan’s league table of contract wins in 2024.
The accounts described “major” contract awards due for completion in the next three years. These include a shell-and-core job on the £450m St John’s Wood Square residential development in London (pictured).
Last year, Multiplex also picked up a £300m contract to deliver learning and research building in Scotland at the University of Glasgow, where it is lead contractor on a £1.3bn campus development programme.
Other large-scale jobs won last year included 50 Fenchurch Street in London (£400m according to Glenigan), and a £150m contract in the capital to refurbish New Zealand House.
Multiplex said these and other contract wins, plus preconstruction service agreements (PCSAs) last year, had left it with “a strong secured workbook for future years”.
The firm’s future expected revenue on secured contracts stood at £2.1bn by 31 December, compared with £1.1bn at the end of 2023.
Its order book also grew from £2.3bn to £3.4bn over the course of last year.
Headcount grew slightly from a monthly average of 625 employees to 644, and the annual wage bill rose from £65.9m to £68.8m.
Ongoing jobs include a main contractor role in phase two of the Elephant and Castle development scheme (to be featured in the May issue of Construction News).
Tuckett said Multiplex had “secured a number of PCSAs on commercial and higher education schemes and aim to convert a total of five PCSAs into main contracts” this year.
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Ben Vogel