The group reported a secured order book of £8.3bn, up 9% year-on-year. With a strengthened balance sheet and net cash of £333m (FY 2019: £193m), the Group now expects profit to be materially ahead of its previous expectations and slightly ahead of that delivered in 2019. 

Despite the results, the construction group said it will be paying a dividend of 61.0 pence a share for the year, up from 21.0p paid the year before.

Morgan Sindall said its revenue figure was helped by the construction and infrastructure division, where a strong performance saw operating profit increase 11% to £35.7m (FY 2019: £32.3m), with operating margin maintained at 2.2%.

A resilient performance in Fit Out resulted in an improved operating margin to 4.6% (FY 2019: 4.4%) and operating profit of £32.1m(FY 2019: £36.9m)

Volumes at Property Services returned to more normalised levels in the second half, achieving a full year operating profit of £1.0m (FY 2019: £4.3m).

Continued strategic and operational progress was made in Partnership Housing, positioning it for future growth. The division’s margin improved slightly to 3.7% (FY 2019: 3.6%), with operating profit of £16.1m (FY 2019: £18.3m).

Steady progress was also made across Urban Regeneration’s long-term regeneration schemes, although operating profit lower at £9.2m (FY 2019: £19.4m).

Chief executive John Morgan said: “Whilst the year has been dominated by the Covid-19 pandemic, these results reflect the resilience across the group and the benefits of actions taken in recent years to maintain contract selectivity, further improve payments to our supply chain and maintain a strong cash position at all times.

“Throughout the year, the business has had to adapt quickly and decisively to the continually changing external environment. I would like to sincerely thank all our employees for their commitment and dedication throughout.  I am extremely proud of the way our people have stepped up in these adverse circumstances.  

“Despite the differing challenges each division faced, the group has continued to make strategic and operational progress. Again, we have an improved cash position and have further strengthened our balance sheet, allowing us to make the right decisions and actions for the long-term benefit of the business.  Our strategy remains the same, based on organic growth and operational improvement in markets geared towards future demand for affordable housing, urban regeneration and infrastructure and construction investment. We welcome the government’s continued support for our activities and the recognition of the industry as a key driver for economic stability and recovery.”

He added: “The size and quality of our growing secured workload at well over £8bn leaves us well-positioned for the future and we are on track to deliver a result which is materially ahead of our previous expectations and slightly ahead of that delivered in 2019.” 

Partnership housing specialist Lovell has made an important contribution to the 2020 year end results by parent company Morgan Sindall.

Lovell reported an operating profit of £16.1m which was 12% down on the previous year due to COVID related delays on sites; however, the secured order book grew significantly to c£1.3bn. Looking ahead, it is expected that continued operational improvements and the benefit of higher revenue will drive margin and profit growth.

During 2020, Lovell built c2200 homes nationwide ranging from new-build open market homes, private rented sector housing and affordable homes to large-scale refurbishment and housing-led regeneration programmes.

Lovell regional managing director for Scotland, Kevin McColgan, said: “Since we announced our half year results back in August, the impact of the pandemic continues to be a dominant factor in our lives. Yet, despite the complexity and enormity of the issues we face we have seen higher levels of construction and sales activity. It has been particularly rewarding to be able to safely move families into a Lovell home, at a time when ‘home’ has never been more important.

“Going forward, we must not lose sight of the wider issues. Tackling climate change and reducing our carbon footprint is critical and by harnessing the resources, knowledge and skills of the wider Group, we can make a much bigger impact. Greater forward planning and collaboration has been one of the positive outcomes of COVID-19 and as we have demonstrated in the last year, if we remain open-minded and dispense with out-dated methods of doing business, we can make progress faster.”