But steelwork contractor lifts interim profit to help increase dividend

The country鈥檚 biggest steelwork contractor saw revenue slip in the first half as nervous clients hit the pause button on jobs.

Severfield said income in the six months to 23 September was down 8.5% with its order book at the start of the month down to 拢480m from 拢510m at the beginning of June when it posted its full-year results.

The firm said it has scratched 拢50m from its workloads over the summer after a job to work on a new film studio in Hertfordshire for Hollywood film firm Sunset Studios was delayed.

severfield

Severfield said some jobs have been hit by client delays

But interim pre-tax profit was up 8% to 拢11m with Severfield saying it had increased its interim dividend by 8% to 1.4 p per share.

Recent jobs the firm has won include a data centre in Dublin and work at Lendlease鈥檚 scheme at 334 Oxford Street to turn the former London flagship of Debenhams into a new retail and office complex.

But the firm admitted: 鈥淭he current market conditions remain a challenge for the business, with some ongoing delays in the conversion of our existing pipeline of opportunities, as clients wait for economic stability, and some lower tendering activity and competitive pricing, particularly in the distribution sector.鈥�

Severfield said the order book at its India business was 拢165m at the beginning of November, down 拢5m on the figure at the start of September.

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