A Kent-based contractor has pushed up its profit despite a battle with inflation.
RG Group, which is based in West Malling in Kent, said “procurement strategies adopted over the past two years” helped to insulate it against the worst of inflationary increases.
The firm posted a pre-tax profit of £1.9m in the year to 31 December 2023, compared with £1.3m the year before. However, turnover dipped from £223.4m to £198.1m.
This delivered a margin of 1 per cent compared with 0.6 per cent in 2022.
RG Group was ranked 77th in the CN100 2024 table of top UK contractors.
“Following the prolonged period of trading uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the year saw a stability in the recovery to pre-pandemic trading levels and provided a firm growth platform for the future,” RG Group said in its accounts.
“Inflationary pressures continued throughout the period, but procurement strategies adopted over the past two years had served to insulate the company from the worst of inflation increases in costs,” it added.
RG Group also said that the impact of inflation on construction costs hit margins that it had already realised on previously secured work.
Cash at bank fell from £10.2m to £3.8m. However, it did reduce its debts from £52.3m to £36.1m.
RG Group was also owed £4.8m in retentions, compared with £5.1m in the prior year.
The firm paid out dividends of £5.4m compared with nothing in 2022.
Headcount fell slightly from a monthly average of 133 staff in 2022 to 116 the following year.
Looking ahead, RG Group said it had a “healthy forward order book for repeat order clients” for both 2024 and 2025, and that it was also expanding its client base.
It said economic uncertainty was the “single biggest risk” within the construction industry, and that it had developed “robust systems” to manage those risks.
It is mainly active in the student accommodation and build-to-rent sectors – with sizeable jobs across the south of England.
Current projects include student housing jobs in Bristol, London and Nottingham. Two of those – a 36-storey site in London’s Stratford and a 595-apartment site in Bristol Temple Meads – are for Unite Students. RG Group is also developing a 790-room student housing scheme for Olympian in Nottingham and is working on build-to-rent sites in Leeds and Manchester.
