A string of acquisitions has contributed to specialist OCU Group racking up a pre-tax loss of £30.9m, its latest annual accounts have shown.
However, the infrastructure contractor revealed a 34 per cent increase in revenue to £610.6m in its accounts for the year ended 30 April 2024.
That compares to revenue of £454.5m for the previous year, which propelled OCU to 43rd place in the CN100 2024 table.
Cash and cash equivalents was £28.8m. Average monthly headcount was 1,119.
OCU said the 34 per cent increase in turnover was partly due to “strong organic growth across multiple sectors”, including utility work such as water.
Stockport-based OCU is owned by private equity fund Triton Partners which bought the firm in July 2022 from brothers Tim and Tom O’Connor who started it in 1994.
The firm has a £200m term loan which was used to part-finance the purchase by Triton plus a “committed acquisition facility” of £150m. Both are repayable at the end of their term in 2029.
According to the latest annual accounts, these loan facilities were extended in April 2024 by £153m and £31m respectively, before OCU completed the acquisition of civils firm RJ McLeod in June 2024.
OCU said that five strategic acquisitions made in the 2023/24 financial year also contributed to revenue growth, but its latest pre-tax loss contrasts with a pre-tax profit of £7.7m in 2022/23.
Among the acquisitions in 2023/24 was Insiris, now renamed OCU Digital, which provides workforce and automation software. It has since developed a back office app now fitted to all company mobile devices used in the field.
Another firm bought was London-based multiutility specialist Modus for an undisclosed sum. Northavon Group, the water engineering firm, was bought in May 2023. Integrum Power Engineering was another purchase and energy security firm Hornbill Engineering completed the transactions.
OCU offers a range of specialist technical solutions and capabilities in utility, civil, mechanical, and electrical engineering. It also provides network design and project management.
Chief financial officer David Snowball said: “OCU continues to make excellent progress towards our strategic objectives, delivering record revenue growth and consistent margins in the year. Our financial performance this year…is a clear indicator of our operational and financial robustness.
He added: “We are particularly pleased with the progress we have made in the energy transition market, which has been achieved through organic growth and strategic acquisitions.”
In its accounts, OCU said future activity would include further acquisitions “that align with and complement the group’s strategic goals”.
