Bam Construct & Ventures moves back into the black despite construction struggles

Bam Construct & Ventures UK has returned to profitability although turnover fell and its construction business continued to struggle last year.

The Royal Bam subsidiary swung back from an £11.1m pre-tax loss in 2023 to a £3.9m profit in the year ending 31 December 2024, according to its latest full-year accounts.

This came despite a 13 per cent drop in turnover from construction activities from £897.6m to £778.9m, delivering a narrower pre-tax loss of £9.1m compared with £31.4m in 2023.

As a result, the firm’s construction pre-tax profit margin improved from -3.5 per cent to -1.2 per cent.

“While revenue fell, work in hand significantly improved in the year, as the [construction] business successfully signed contracts worth nearly £1bn,” the firm said.

It added that the construction forward order book increased in value from £606m in 2023 to £878.5m last year.

Overall revenue for Bam Construct & Ventures UK – including plant hire and facilities management activities – dropped from £1.07bn to £923.7m.

The fall in construction revenue was expected, the company said in its annual accounts, as its newly implemented strategy of delivering the “right work, with the right client at the right price” continued to ensure “the project portfolio was aligned with the risk profile”.

Overall, the company’s cash and cash equivalents position slipped slightly last year, down to £30.8m from £37.6m in 2023.

The latest accounts showed it did not have any bank debt or other external borrowings or facilities, although its dividend payout of £3.7m was down sharply on the previous year’s £12.5m.

Bam Construct & Ventures saw its headcount fall by more the 250 staff, from a monthly average of 2,056 to 1,800.

This led to an £11.2m decrease in the annual wage bill to £105.6m, the accounts said.

Since the period covered by the accounts, British Land has appointed Bam to deliver a £100m overhaul of the 34-storey Broadgate Tower near Liverpool Street station in London, plus a £45.4m ferry infrastructure contract in Shetland.