{"id":889694,"date":"2026-02-02T23:12:14","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T05:12:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/02\/stubborn-inflation-deepens-loss-at-jrl\/"},"modified":"2026-02-02T23:12:14","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T05:12:14","slug":"stubborn-inflation-deepens-loss-at-jrl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/02\/02\/stubborn-inflation-deepens-loss-at-jrl\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Stubborn\u2019 inflation deepens loss at JRL"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

JRL Group has sunk further into the red after inflation took its toll, according to the firm\u2019s latest accounts.<\/p>\n

The contractor\u2019s chairman John Reddington said JRL had launched a strategic review of the business amid the \u201cstubborn and persistent effects of inflation\u201d in the 16 months to 30 April 2025.<\/p>\n

In his strategic report with the accounts, Reddington added he was \u201cconfident\u201d that the worst effects of the recent spike in inflation were now \u201cbehind us\u201d.<\/p>\n

JRL \u00a0\u2013 the 28th<\/sup> biggest contractor in the UK<\/a> according to last year\u2019s CN100 index \u2013 recorded a pre-tax loss of \u00a348.8m in its newly released accounts, compared with \u00a335.7m in the previous 12-month period.<\/p>\n

The latest loss, which was slightly worse than the \u00a347.5m deficit it posted in 2022, resulted in a -6.2 per cent profit margin.<\/p>\n

Reddington said higher wage costs, rising material prices and a tight specialist labour market had \u201cincreased the cost to complete a number of [JRL] projects, particularly those secured on fixed-price terms\u201d.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe past few years have been among the most challenging the group has faced in its 30-year history.\u201d<\/p>\n

JRL\u2019s turnover also took a hit, falling from \u00a3826.1m to \u00a3784.7m despite the elongated reporting period, although cash at hand rose from \u00a381.7m to \u00a399.3m.<\/p>\n

Within the group, revenue at JRL\u2019s main contractor business Midgard fell from \u00a3612.4m to \u00a3579.6m.<\/p>\n

Midgard\u2019s pre-tax loss also worsened, from \u00a310m to \u00a315.4m.<\/p>\n

The wider JRL Group also includes concrete frame, demolition, scaffolding and groundworks businesses.<\/p>\n

Reddington pointed to a \u201csmall number of underperforming contracts\u201d that further worsened JRL\u2019s bottom line.<\/p>\n

JRL director Kevin Keegan said he was \u201csatisfied\u201d the firm had absorbed all those legacy costs in the period, following a \u201cdetailed contract-by-contract review\u201d.<\/p>\n

Reddington also referred to the 50 per cent acquisition of JRL by Malaysian conglomerate IJM Corporation Berhad<\/a> last year, which raised \u00a350m.<\/p>\n

That deal allowed JRL to reduce its net debt by more than \u00a332m and cut its property-related borrowings by half, he said.<\/p>\n

JRL launched a comprehensive, multi-year strategic review of the business during the period to identify any underperforming units, Reddington said, with plans to change the group\u2019s operating model.<\/p>\n

It also launched a broader business model review, assessing the risk of fixed-price contracts following the impact of inflation, and considering \u201cwhere activities or costs could be more appropriately managed externally rather than within the group\u201d.<\/p>\n

The latest accounts showed that short-term repayable bank loan and overdraft debt rose from \u00a357m to \u00a383.7m, while loans repayable after 12 months fell from \u00a351.7m to \u00a319.3m.<\/p>\n

No dividends were paid out.<\/p>\n

JRL Group\u2019s average monthly headcount decreased from 2,281 to 2,136 employees, but its annual wage bill rose by 28 per cent from \u00a3112.7m to \u00a3143.7m.<\/p>\n

Reddington said JRL was now in \u201cmuch better shape\u201d following the recapitalisation and some of its other actions.<\/p>\n

He added that the contractor now has a strong and well diversified order book, a better risk framework, reduced net debt and \u201ca clear strategy focused on disciplined growth, operational excellence and sustainable outcomes\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next phase for JRL will be about continuing to translate our scale and integrated model into consistent, sustainable profitability while maintaining safe and reliable delivery for our clients,\u201d Reddington said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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

JRL Group has sunk further into the red after inflation took its toll, according to the firm\u2019s latest accounts. The contractor\u2019s chairman John Reddington said JRL had launched a strategic review of the business amid the \u201cstubborn and persistent effects of inflation\u201d in the 16 months to 30 April 2025. In his strategic report with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":889695,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23782,31122],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-889694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-inflation","category-stubborn"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889694","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=889694"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/889694\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/889695"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=889694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=889694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=889694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}