BAM Construct UK has reported another year of “solid, stable performance” in 2017.

The company’s profit before tax was £19.3 million (2016: £26.2m) and revenue was £957.5m (2016: £1,072.2m), producing a margin of 2%. Operating profit improved by 40% from 2016 before exceptional items.

BAM has no debt – its cash at the year-end was £82.3m (2016: £116.6m), and its order book was £1,624m (2016: £1,654m).

Chief executive, James Wimpenny, who took up his position in January 2018, said: “These results reflect our delivery of Royal BAM Group’s strategy, ‘Building the present, creating the future’.

“BAM Construct UK has been consistently profitable for more than a decade. We operate in a high risk, low margin industry. We believe our stability and predictable performance is attractive to clients and our supply chain and is one of the reasons why much of our work is repeat business.

“I am also very pleased that we reduced the number of RiDDOR accidents by nearly half in 2017 (13 down from 25 in 2016) and our incident frequency rate is the second lowest among Build UK members.

“Our tCO2e emissions fell by over 15% to 14,410 tonnes (2016: 15,023) and we diverted more than 90% of waste from landfill. We add value on our projects through our commitment to community engagement.”

Looking to the future, James Wimpenny said: “BAM’s strategy will continue to be founded on operating efficiently and managing cash effectively. We aim to stay at the forefront of digital construction and data management.

“We are able to offer an integrated range of services across the lifecycle of a building and we will maintain our focus on competing for complex, high value work with clients who appreciate quality over price and value a collaborative approach.”

BAM Construction, the largest subsidiary of BAM Construct UK, contributed revenue of £903.5m (2016: £987.6m) and made a pre-tax profit of £20.9m (2016: £5.3m). The revenue reduction was attributed to more selective bidding, in line with group strategy.

BAM Construction executive director, Douglas Keillor, said BAM Construction will seek to extend the scope of its building services engineering division “as securing effective M&E services is an expensive and high risk element in most major construction projects”.

Mr Keillor added: “BAM Design and BAM Plant, which are divisions of BAM Construction, also have an important role to play in pioneering the application of emerging technologies to construction and design processes, including the use of 3D printing, robotics and prefabrication.”