OHOB posts record turnover as profit edges up

Diversified construction group OHOB Holdings has seen an increase in pre-tax profit on the back of record turnover, its latest annual accounts have revealed.

The firm posted a 3.7 per cent rise in pre-tax profit to £21.8m for the year to 31 March 2025, on record turnover of £369.3m.

While the group’s profit margin dipped to 5.9 per cent from 6.7 per cent in the previous year, net assets rose to £204.7m from £187.7m.

“Our key performance indicators above continue to show consistent profitability and we further increased our already strong and liquid balance sheet,” the company said in its accounts.

OHOB Holdings’ cash at bank strengthened to £92.1m in the year to the end of March, compared with £70.1m in the previous period.

The firm was ranked 60th in last year’s CN100 table of top contractors.

OHOB Holdings is the parent company of the construction and groundworks firm O’Halloran & O’Brien, B&T Plant Hire, Riverdale Developments, specialist contractors Keady Construction and utilities firm Forsa.

Turnover from construction contracts jumped from £294.4m to £332.7m, while revenue from the sales of residential properties rose 85 per cent to £25.9m. Meanwhile, revenue at the plant hire division more than doubled to £10.6m.

Overall, the group shed 11 jobs during the year to bring its total number of employees to 200. Total wage costs rose from £18.2m to £20.1m.

Looking ahead, the group acknowledged that profit margins remained “challenging” and noted a reduction in demand caused by delayed starts to tall residential schemes that are waiting for the resolution of the Building Safety Act regulations.

OHOB added that tariffs and geopolitics were also dampening investment confidence, so “caution remains the order of the day”.

“Therefore, we anticipate that our turnover will be affected next year, but we have a satisfactory workload from well-established customers and we have a significant pipeline of good potential opportunities,” the company added.

Chairman Tom O’Brien said that reforms to the Building Safety Regulator would unblock delays to the approval of new high-rise development applications.

These reforms would result in “a significant increase in demand for construction services which is likely to lead to all-round increased pricing and increased demand”, he added.

With a portfolio of projects stretching across London and beyond, OHOB Holdings is involved in the groundworks and construction of TwelveTrees Park, a new development of over 3,800 homes in West Ham, the Green Quarter regeneration project in west London and the £300m Silk District development in Whitechapel.