Shed and multi-room building contractor Winvic restored profitability this year after suffering losses on prepandemic-bid jobs in the prior year.
Revenue in the year to January 2024 fell 21% to £959m but the firm managed to ride out tough market conditions to deliver an 80% uplift in pre-tax profit to £19m.
Managing director Simon Girardier said: “Despite ongoing market challenges over the past year, our business strategy has demonstrated its resilience, allowing us to maintain our impressive record of industry-leading project delivery.
“The group remains in a strong cash position with no debt and long-term work in progress on its books.”
He said that Winvic had only one long-term project now on its books secured at pre-Covid pricing levels. This would be completed in the current financial year with the losses already provided for within the latest accounts.
Girardier added: “Stabilising growth over the last two years has given the business the opportunity to further develop internal processes and controls to place the group in a strong position to grow in a controlled manner over the coming years.
In May, Winvic completed a bolt-on acquisition of Northampton-based mobile ready-mixed concrete supplier Sitecrete.
He said the outlook for the financial year ahead was looking very promising, with a current forward order book of £1.73bn.
With the industrial and shed market now returning to strong growth, Winwic is forecasting it will once more break through the £1bn turnover this year delivering revenue of £1.13bn.
Over the past year, Winvic delivered 24 projects for the industrial, distribution and logistics sector totalling over 10.9 million sq ft of industrial space.
This year Winvic expects to reach the milestone of a total of 100 m sq ft since its formation in 2001.
In the multi-room sector, Winvic completed three large build-to-rent developments, providing a total of 1,415 beds, in addition to a 426-bed student housing scheme.
The order book remains strong, with 4,770 beds currently under construction, preferred status on an additional 3,574 beds and opportunities on over 8,000 beds.
Winvic’s civils and infrastructure business performed well despite facing high inflationary pressures over the past 12-18 months.
Net cash over the year slipped back to £94m from £131m in 2023.
