But impact of covid means 2020 revenue will be down nearly 拢100m on last year鈥檚 figure

Listed M&E contractor T Clarke has said it will pay a dividend next month as the firm issued an upbeat trading statement to the City this morning.

The firm, which fell into the red for the six months to June, said it would be handing shareholders a payment of 0.75p per share on 13 November.

t clarke

The firm expects turnover for year to be 拢240m, down 28% on last year鈥檚 number

T Clarke said it was on course for margins of 3% in the second half of the year after the impact of covid-19 sent it to a pre-tax loss of 拢1.5m from a 拢4.5m pre-tax profit last time on revenue down 38% to 拢106m.

But it said trading has improved considerably from the second quarter, when turnover collapsed by half from the previous three months, and said it was expecting revenue for the year of around 拢240m and underlying profit of approximately 拢6m 鈥 although this is considerably down on the 拢335m turnover it posted last year where underlying profit stood at 拢9.2m.

It said all its sites were now open and added its forward order was a near record 拢410m.

It added: 鈥淭hroughout the year there continues to be high levels of bidding opportunities. Assuming there are no further significant business interruptions arising from any widespread secondary lockdown the Board is cautiously optimistic for the medium-term outlook.鈥

The covid crisis meant the firm spent 拢3.6m completing a restructuring which has seen 80 jobs go at the business, around 6% of its 1,400-strong workforce.