Revenue and profit at mechanical and electrical (M&E) specialist Dalkia Operations fell last year amid restructuring costs, higher provisions and project delays.
The Manchester-based firm’s latest accounts filed with Companies House, covering the 2023 calendar year, show that pre-tax profit dropped by 38 per cent, from £1.8m to £1.3m.
Turnover decreased by a less-severe 3 per cent to £146m, compared with £150.6m the year before.
As a result, the firm’s profit margin narrowed from 1.2 per cent to 0.9 per cent.
In his strategic report accompanying the accounts, Michael Booth, chief financial officer of parent firm Dalkia Group, said the drop in profit was due to “non-recurring costs including restructuring and rebranding following new ownership”.
He added that “volume reduction and cost increases impacting project results” hit Dalkia Operations’ bottom line.
Booth attributed the lower revenue figure to “continuing economic uncertainties, spiralling inflation and ongoing supply chain disruption”, which resulted in delays to new projects and slowdowns on in-progress jobs.
In addition, the accounts stated that Dalkia Operations booked £8.9m in provisions for liabilities “based on possible non-recovery of variations and claims”. This total was more than three times the previous year’s £2.9m.
The firm has no long- or short-term repayable bank loans, and paid no dividends last year.
Cash at bank was down, having fallen from £17.2m to £13.5m.
Headcount increased from a monthly average of 1,799 employees to 1,834. This led to a 7 per cent increase in the overall wage bill, to £46.6m.
Dalkia Operations used to trade as Spie Ltd until a name change last October, when it became a subsidiary of CN100 firm Dalkia Group.
Its ongoing work includes a place on Pagabo’s £545m M&E Solutions Framework, awarded last year.
