Galliford Try report further £26m loss on Aberdeen bypass as wrangle continues

Reporting the first half results of 2018, construction giant Galliford Try has revealed a further financial blow suffered from the continuing delays of the Aberdeen bypass.

In the six months to 31 December, the firm made a pre-tax profit of £53.8m, down 4% from the same period a year before, while revenue was down 5% to £1.42bn.

But it was the Aberdeen Wester Peripheral Route project which continues to cause setbacks for Galliford as bosses reported another £26m hit.

A year ago, the construction group and housebuilder was forced to raise £150m from investors to pay for cost overruns on the joint venture scheme and to cover the impact of Carillion’s collapse on the business.

While in May, the firm said it expected weather-related additional costs of less than £25m as it continued to plough on with the project after the road was scheduled to be finished in the spring.

Galliford Try, Balfour Beatty and Carillion, were originally responsible for delivering one of Scotland’s biggest infrastructure projects but when Birmingham-based Carillion liquidated in January 2018, the remaining two partners were left to pick up the pieces.

Work on the costly road project is now finally complete after suffering numerous delays but the final 4.5 mile stretch remains unopened to motorists in north-east Scotland as a wrangle between contractors and Transport Scotland continues.

Galliford say them remain in “constructive dialogue” with the client. Scotland’s deputy first minister said last week that the government wanted “essential assurances over the maintenance of the road”.

Chief executive, Peter Truscott, said the group’s latest results demonstrated “a strong financial and operational performance in the first half”.

“We were delighted to achieve completion of the AWPR with final handover in progress, successfully delivering a vital and major piece of infrastructure to the local community,” he added. “The Group enters the second half of the year with a solid foundation, underpinned by a strong balance sheet and our focus on high-quality earnings which will drive further margin improvements over time.”

Otherwise, the company’s housing arm Linden Homes generated £392.1m revenue, down 10% on last year, as profits fell by 5% to £77m. The Partnerships & Regeneration's revenue rose by 27% to £284.9m and operating profit was up by 34% to £5.1m.