Pre-tax profit at contractor Geoffrey Osborne very nearly halved to £3m from a record high in 2015 after the group settled several legacy contracts.
In financial results for the year to March this year, pre-tax profit fell 46% to £3m, down from £5.6m the previous year, on revenue of £342m, up 11% on £309m.
Both the infrastructure and property services businesses significantly improved margins over the year to 31 March 2016.
But overall group margin slid from 2% to just under 1% after settlement of a small number of problem contracts.
Over the year strong growth in education work helped to lift group turnover by just over 10% to £342m.
Highways and rail accounted for around £120m of revenue, with affordable new homes and maintenance contributing £70m. The balance was made up by the building division across commercial, education and healthcare.
The contractor, led by chief executive Andy Steele, said the underlying profitability of both its infrastructure and property businesses improved “significantly” over the period. But this was offset “by the final settlement of a small number of legacy construction projects won during more challenging market conditions”.
Osborne, which files accounts as Geoffrey Osborne Ltd, said its infrastructure business picked up more orders with clients Network Rail and Highways England over the period. Its overall order book increased 4% to £445m.
Steele said that the outcome of the Brexit referendum would undoubtedly impact the property and construction industries over the next few years.
