CN100 2023: return to pre-pandemic performance for top firms

Turnover, pre-tax profit and margin have risen above pre-pandemic levels for the UK’s top contractors, the 2023 CN100 list reveals. 

Aggregate revenue for the companies in the 2023 list approached £71bn, while average pre-tax profit rose by 25 per cent. Average profit margin outstripped its 2022 level with a year-on-year increase of more than 50 per cent.  

Fifty-five of the firms in this year’s table (based on annual accounts filed with Companies House before 18 August 2023) saw their pre-tax profit grow, and 46 were able to broaden their margins. 

Meanwhile, 14 companies returned to profitability and fewer are in the red than last year (14 compared with 19). Firms involved in major infrastructure projects and the office, industrial, logistics and warehousing sectors were prominent among the comebacks. 

However, in two categories – cash at hand and net cash – the CN2023 aggregate figures were marginally lower than in the previous year.

But the overall impression is of a sector recovering from the tumult of recent years. 

Analysts noted that the worst effects of legacy fixed-price lump-sum contracts arranged in 2020 or 2021 were over, and contractors can now focus on agreeing new work at the current cost of materials and labour as inflation retreats from its October 2022 peak. 

However, notable absentees in this year’s list include CN100 2022 firms Tolent, Henry and Buckingham. And industry insiders and analysts have voiced nervousness over what the coming 12-18 months will bring.

• How were some companies able to improve their performance in an uncertain business climate?  
• Was ‘greedflation’ a factor, with large contractors enriching themselves at the expense of clients and subcontractors? 
• To what extent did firms in this year’s CN100 erode their cash reserves versus borrowing more from banks?  
• Will we see a shift in focus in 2024 from profit margin to revenue generation? 

All these questions and more will be tackled in our analysis of the CN100 statistics, appearing online next week and in the upcoming October issue of Construction News.