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(Alliance News) - Kier Group PLC on Thursday warned on a drop in annual revenue and said that it has commenced a sale process for its housebuilding division, Kier Living, following significant interest in the unit.
The construction company also said that its net debt at June 30 stood at GBP167 million. Average month-end net debt for the year to June end stood at GBP422 million, lower than previous guidance of GBP420 million to GBP450 million.
Shares in Kier Group were trading 40% higher at 86.25 pence each on Thursday in London.
For financial 2019, the company predicts revenue to be GBP100 million lower than GBP4.24 billion recorded for financial 2018, mainly due to delay in completion of property and land-led transactions. The lower revenue generation is anticipated to impact the company's profitability for financial 2019. Pretax profit for financial 2018 stood at GBP106.2 million.
The company said average payment days to its supply chain partners fell to 41 in the second half of financial 2019 from 57 days in the first half.
Trading in the Infrastructure Services and Buildings divisions has remained resilient, Kier added.
Separately, the UK listed company appointed Simon Kesterson as chief financial designate with effect from August 26.
Kesterson, who previously was group finance director at plastic packaging firm RPC Group PLC, will formally assume the finance head role from September 19, the day on which Kier will publish its financial 2019 results.
The company's current Finance Director Bev Dew will stand down from the board immediately following financial 2019 results publication. He will remain on garden leave for the remainder of his notice period, which concludes in May 2020.
"Simon has a broad range of finance experience across a number of sectors. In particular, he has played a key role in implementing programmes which focus on the disposal of non-core assets, the reduction of overheads and cost control," said Kier Chief Executive Andrew Davies.
