Laing O'Rourke has reported a loss of £60.6 million in its annual accounts to the year to 31 March 2017.

The delayed results announcement reveals despite underlying profit of £35m, up from an £82m loss in 2016, the company incurred £86.2m of continuing losses from joint ventures. Of which £83.2m was on phase one of the CHUM hospital JV completed in October 2017.

However, the £60.6m figure is significant turnaround on the £219.9m loss reported last year. Total revenue was up 26% to £3,172.5m (2016: £2,513.2m).

Chief Executive Ray O'Rourke said the Group has responded "strongly" to recent challenges.

"Not only by restructuring the UK business, but also through new processes and controls on project selection, operational delivery, digital data and risk and assurance," he said.


"We have set a new strategic mission and are absolutely aligned with the UK Government's Industrial Strategy, which calls for construction to demonstrate productivity in-line with the aviation and automotive engineering sectors by 2025. Indeed, our aim is to outperform that timetable, with our ongoing investments in advanced manufacturing leading a step-change in safety, quality safety and efficiency.

"The market is already responding to our DfMA 70:60:30 offsite manufacturing capability in a remarkable way, and we have a series of negotiated projects now in our robust and growing global pipeline.

"It has been a difficult time for our sector, and recent events have only reinforced the importance of Laing O'Rourke's early actions to redefine the business. Our leadership team across the Group has been steadfast and their achievements remarkable. 

"I take this opportunity to thank our lender group and all of our stakeholders – including clients, subcontractors and supply chain partners – as well as our supporters in government and the media, for their encouragement while we completed this significant transformation.

"We will continue to build on this momentum, backed by recent high-profile project wins, to become the recognised leader for innovation and excellence in the construction industry."

(LM/JP)