The company has reported a large pre-tax loss after having to remediate several welding faults and other issues on a variety of bridge contracts
Testing and remediation costs for the Severfield bridge faults amounted to around £43.4m, offset by £20m in insurance payouts, with an extra £9m in unrelated bridge-issue costs.
Coupled with £35.6m in non-underlying costs in the year to March, the company has taken a severe blow this year.
Some of the bridges are for HS2
It was reported last November in Severfield’s interim financial results that issues had been identified in “some bridge structures which were not in compliance with the client’s weld specification requirements.”
Nine of these bridges had been constructed for the HS2 project, as well as five National Highways road bridges, all of which were suffering from welding defects.
The blow to the company’s revenue comes at a time when it is already having to tighten its belts, with tougher market conditions, project delays, and payment delays causing extra costs.
Revenue shrank by 3%, while underlying pre-tax profit fell to £18m. The core construction operating margin dropped to 4.9% from 8.3%, and in March, Severfield had to cut 6% of its workforce in order to save on costs.
The company is also discussing the option of selling a share of its Indian 50:50 joint venture to JSW Steel, up to 24.9%, for £20m.
Charlie Cornish, non-executive chairman, said: “While we performed well operationally, delivering a diverse range of projects for clients across many of our key market sectors, tough market conditions in the UK and Europe, combined with the ongoing bridge remedial works programme, contributed to weaker financial results.
“In response to these challenges, we have taken and continue to take appropriate cost reduction and cash conservation measures.
“Despite the current market backdrop, we have secured a strong baseload of work for FY26 and into FY27, and we continue to see some good projects coming to market.”
The company is still without a CEO
In March, around the same time 6% of staff were laid off, it was announced that Alan Dunsmore would be stepping down from the role of CEO, which he did on 30 June.
A search process was launched soon after to find his replacement, but no one has yet been chosen.
At the time, Alan Dunsmore said: “It has been a privilege to spend 15 years of my career at Severfield and to have led the development of the business in the UK, Europe and India. Now is an appropriate time to hand over to a new CEO to build on Severfield’s unique strengths and accelerate the growth of the business.”
Charlie Cornish, chair of the board, said: “On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank Alan for his commitment to Severfield over the past 15 years and for the last seven years of dedicated leadership as CEO. Alan has been pivotal in shaping our purpose, strategy and values, driving growth both organically and through acquisitions.
“Moving forward the Board and the executive team will build on Severfield’s market leading position in the UK and growing presence in Europe and India, driving strategic progress on manufacturing efficiency and project delivery, positioning the Group for further growth and long-term shareholder returns.”
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