Housebuilder and construction group Galliford Try saw shares dip in early trading despite declaring it was on course for record results for the full year.
The firm, whose Morrison Construction arm is part of the consortium constructing the Queensferry Crossing over the Forth, yesterday said it expected pre-tax profits for the year to be at the upper end of analyst forecasts.
However, the trading update for the year to June 30 failed to inspire investors and stock fell by more than 1% in morning trading.
The company, which bought Edinburgh-based Miller Construction in a £17 million deal last summer, said its housebuilding division had seen sales rates grow in the wake of May’s general election.
It said it had also seen “excellent” revenue growth within Galliford Try partnerships, with the order book increasing from £500m last year to £825m.
The group’s construction division also saw a spike in orders from £1.4 billion at June 30 2014 to £3.5bm this year.
It said all of its construction business units were seeing an increase in growth opportunities and 88% of revenues for the current financial year had been secured, compared with 84% last year.
Executive chairman Greg Fitzgerald said it had been a record year.
“We are pleased to see that the momentum across the group continues, supported by encouraging market trends for all three businesses,” he said.
“We are also delighted with the two important acquisitions of Miller Construction and Shepherd Homes, further increasing the group’s opportunities and capacity.
“Labour availability and cost remain challenging but we continue to manage this effectively, working closely with our supply chain. Housing market conditions remain positive and the directors take further confidence from the significant increase in the group’s landbank as well as the contracting order book within partnerships.
“Following a resilient performance in construction throughout a tough recession, we are pleased to report another profitable year for the division and are encouraged by the outlook.”
Shares in Galliford closed the day down 3.54% at 1,661p on Wednesday.