Corporate

Keller Group plc (‘Keller’ or ‘the Group’), the world’s largest geotechnical specialist contractor, announces its results for the year ended 31 December 2024. 
 

Preliminary results march 2025 cover

Another outstanding set of results ahead of expectations with improved performance in all key measures

Preliminary results table march 25

1 Underlying operating profit, underlying profit before tax and underlying diluted earnings per share are non-statutory measures which provide readers of this announcement with a balanced and comparable view of the Group’s performance by excluding the impact of non-underlying items, as disclosed in note 9 of the consolidated financial statements 

2 Net debt is presented on a lender covenant basis excluding the impact of IFRS 16 as disclosed within the adjusted performance measures in the consolidated financial statements 

Highlights 

  • Another outstanding result as we continued to build on the material step-up in operational and financial performance delivered in 2023 
    • Revenue of £2,986.7m, up 4% on prior year at constant currency 
    • Record underlying operating profit of £212.6m, up 22% at constant currency, with a modest weighting towards the first half of 2024 as previously indicated. Statutory operating profit up 34% 
    • Underlying operating profit margin increased by 100bps to 7.1% (2023: 6.1%) 
    • Free cash flow generation increased by 87% to £192.6m 
    • Underlying diluted EPS of 199.9p, up 30%, driven by higher profitability, reduced financing costs and a lower Group effective tax rate. Statutory EPS up 60% with significant reduction in non-underlying items 
    • Underlying ROCE increased to 28.2% (2023: 22.8%), the highest for 16 years 
  • Significant deleveraging with net debt of £29.5m, down £116.7m, driven by strong profitability and robust cash generation, resulting in a net debt/EBITDA leverage ratio of 0.1x (2023: 0.6x) 
  • Record year-end order book of £1.6bn (2023: £1.5bn) 
  • Safety: accident frequency rate halved to 0.05, a material improvement on prior year (2023: 0.10) 
  • In recognition of the excellent performance and the Group’s future growth prospects, the Board is recommending a final dividend of 33.1p, bringing the total dividend for the year to 49.7p (2023: 45.2p), an increase of 10% 
  • In addition, Keller announces its intention to launch a multi-year share buyback programme, with an initial tranche of £25m in the first quarter of 2025
2024 was another outstanding year for Keller, ahead of expectations, delivering improved performance across all key metrics - profits, earnings, margin, return on capital, cash conversion and debt reduction. This performance builds on the positive momentum developed in recent years as a result of the disciplined execution of our strategy. Since the strategy was first launched in 2019, we have rationalised the geographic and product portfolio of the Group and more recently focused on improving the project execution across the business. The result is a more consistent performance, improved operating margins and higher levels of cash flow have allowed the Group to grow earnings and de-lever the balance sheet considerably, and given us the platform to increase the dividend and announce our intention to launch a multi-year share buyback programme, part of an ongoing commitment to return capital to shareholders.

Our record year-end order book of £1.6bn across our diverse revenue streams underpins our expectations for growth in the next phase of implementation of the Group’s strategy. Whilst we remain mindful of the uncertain geopolitical and macroeconomic environment in the short-term, we anticipate further progress in 2025 and a return to our typical second half weighting. We have ensured that Keller is set up to be resilient over the medium and longer term and well positioned to capture growth opportunities both organically and through selective M&A. We are strongly encouraged by the sustained improvement in the Group’s performance that provides the platform to continue to enhance shareholder value.
Michael Speakman
Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact:

Keller Group plc
Michael Speakman, Chief Executive Officer 
David Burke, Chief Financial Officer 
Caroline Crampton, Group Head of Investor Relations 

www.keller.com
020 7616 7575

FTI Consulting 
Nick Hasell 
Matthew O’Keeffe 

020 3727 1340

A webcast for investors and analysts will be held at 09.00 GMT on 4 March 2024 and will also be available later the same day on demand 

https://connectstudio-portal.world-television.com/en/67a3c49885959b153c4ce1d5

Conference call:
Participants joining by telephone: 
UK (Toll-Free): 0800 358 1035 
UK(Local): +44 (0)20 3936 2999 
All other locations: +44 20 3936 2999 
Participant access code: 966988

Accessing the telephone replay:
A replay will be available until 12 March 2024 
UK (Toll-Free): 0800 304 5227 
UK: +44 (0)20 3936 3001 
Access Code: 685714