Clegg Construction has posted a pre-tax loss of £3.1m as “extraordinary” inflationary pressure hit its fixed-price contracts.
The company fell into the red even as turnover rose by more than a third to £72.8m, according to its annual report and financial statements for the year ended 31 December of 2022.
In the previous year, it made a pre-tax profit of more than £324,000.
The Nottingham-based contractor said trading over the past year had been affected by external factors which had put unavoidable pressures on the cost of delivery of guaranteed contracts in previous years.
“Factors include extraordinary levels of material and labor cost inflation, supply chain failures in some contracts and general constraints on the production capacity of the outsourcing market due to high levels of trade,” he said.
However, he sounded a more positive note for the coming months, noting that more predictable trading conditions had returned from the last quarter of 2022, enabling new work to be secured and delivered profitably .
He said: “The general contracting market has remained buoyant for new inquiries and this is reflected in a strong existing and secured work order backlog that has been targeted and acquired across a range of sectors including defence, education, leisure, accommodation and healthcare trade. until 2024 and until 2025″.
Clegg recorded cash in the bank and in hand of just over £2m for 2022, compared to almost £4m the previous year.
Directors’ pay rose to £379,883, with the highest paid director receiving £146,097, up from £129,075 the previous year.
Across the Clegg Group as a whole, the construction group’s performance was partially offset by record trading in its food projects division, resulting in an overall pre-tax profit of 1.5m of pounds, below the 1.8 million of the previous year.
