{"id":867678,"date":"2025-08-24T21:12:35","date_gmt":"2025-08-25T02:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/24\/andrew-davies-kier-rescue-mission-pays-off\/"},"modified":"2025-08-24T21:12:35","modified_gmt":"2025-08-25T02:12:35","slug":"andrew-davies-kier-rescue-mission-pays-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/24\/andrew-davies-kier-rescue-mission-pays-off\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Davies\u2019 Kier rescue mission pays off"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\"Kier<\/p>\n

\n

From debt crisis to \u2018government\u2019s speed-dial contractor\u2019 in six years \u2013 CN<\/em> reflects on CEO\u2019s legacy<\/strong><\/p>\n

The next two months will be big for Kier. The UK\u2019s third-largest contractor reveals its 2025 results on 16 September, weeks before long-serving boss Andrew Davies departs. Stuart Togwell, group managing director of construction, will step up.<\/p>\n

Davies (pictured) leaves after more than six years in charge, having joined the debt-ridden firm in March 2019 with a mission to turn its fortunes around. At the time, Kier was \u201ca supertanker going the wrong way\u201d, said Peel Hunt equity analyst Andrew Nussey, but Davies \u201cturned it around 180 degrees\u201d.<\/p>\n

The chief executive arrived with the sector still reeling from the collapse of contracting giant Carillion in 2018. More crises were to follow: Covid, rampant material price inflation and recession. Davies took the strategic decision to focus on the government as a core client, meaning there was no place for Kier\u2019s housebuilding arm and other non-core segments such as environmental services. After honing its public sector focus, the firm is now a \u201cPremier League\u201d contractor \u201con the government\u2019s speed dial\u201d, according to Nussey.<\/p>\n

Kier\u2019s transformation is evident by comparing its latest financials with 2019 (see table). The firm also drew \u00a3229.2m from a \u00a3670m revolving credit facility (RCF) in 2018-19 but began 2025 with a reduced \u00a3150m facility. And Kier has been confident enough to issue shareholder dividends for two years in a row, including \u00a322.4m last year.<\/p>\n

While Kier is now profitable, \u201cthe most impressive area of change is the stronger capital structure\u201d, said Mani Singh, risk and surety adviser at Tryg Trade. \u201cThis includes five times as much cash and equivalents balance, less than one-third of the average monthly net debt [\u2026] and undrawn RCF.\u201d He added: \u201cI feel as though Davies\u2019 strategy passed the tidying-up stage, progressed into the latter stages of the building-up stage and was beginning what looks to be a strengthening period.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a full-year trading update on 22 July, Kier said it expects to report \u201cgood growth\u201d in its next results. About 88 per cent of targeted revenue for the 2026 financial year has already been secured. A focus on core sectors has been key, said Singh, adding: \u201cRemember that it\u2019s taken Kier five or six years to get to where it is now \u2013 it wasn\u2019t simple, and that timespan helps to understand the scale of the original challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked to sum up Davies\u2019 legacy, Nussey said: \u201cHe arrived with probably the toughest gig in the industry and is leaving [Kier] as a market leader set to play a key role in UK infrastructure \u2013 from water to highways, nuclear, prisons and rail \u2013 while leading in regional construction.\u201d<\/p>\n

He adds: \u201cThe point I make to investors is to look at Kier\u2019s ability to pivot at pace to a particular market opportunity and take profitable market share. In the water sector, for example, Kier has skills across the group that have been brought together by Davies, whether that\u2019s designers, a digital capability or modern methods of construction.\u201d<\/p>\n

While his exit is \u201cundoubtedly a disappointing development\u201d for investors, Nussey said, Togwell\u2019s promotion suggests continuity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Metric<\/strong><\/td>\n\u00a0y\/e 30 June 2019<\/strong><\/td>\ny\/e 30 June 2024<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Revenue (excl. JVs)<\/td>\n\u00a33.95bn<\/td>\n\u00a33.90bn<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pre-tax profit\/loss<\/td>\n-\u00a3229.5m<\/td>\n\u00a368.1m<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cash\/equivalents<\/td>\n\u00a3311.7m<\/td>\n\u00a31.56bn<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Full-yr cash\/debt<\/td>\n-\u00a3192.2m<\/td>\n\u00a3167.2m<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Source: CN100 database<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>
\n Joshua Stein<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From debt crisis to \u2018government\u2019s speed-dial contractor\u2019 in six years \u2013 CN reflects on CEO\u2019s legacy The next two months will be big for Kier. The UK\u2019s third-largest contractor reveals its 2025 results on 16 September, weeks before long-serving boss Andrew Davies departs. Stuart Togwell, group managing director of construction, will step up. Davies (pictured)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":867679,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[345,45440],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-867678","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-andrew","8":"category-davies"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=867678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/867679"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=867678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=867678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=867678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}