The firm, which completed a £160m refinancing deal to clear its debt pile earlier this month, said it was optimistic about trading this year.

Group profits before exceptionals jumped from £2.4m in 2010 to £21m on turnover down 11% at £588m.

After exceptional items pre-tax losses were down from £93m to £30m.

Group chief executive Keith Miller said: “The significant capital investment and support from our new shareholders provides us with a solid platform for future growth.

“Our chosen markets are showing encouraging signs of recovery and, with a robust balance sheet, together with the steps we have taken to position each of our businesses, we can look to the future with some confidence.”

Turnover and profits fell at the construction arm as the group avoided hard-bid contracts and was hit by delays in framework start-ups.

But Miller said he was confident this trend would reverse in 2012.

The housing division, which had dragged the private company down, scraped in with its first pre-exceptional profit for several years of £900,000 after a like-for-like loss of £17m last time.

Completions were down 15% at 1,632 units as sales outlet fell to 74 from 81 the year before.

Average selling prices were also down to £161,000 (2010: £168,000).

Miller said the housing division was encouraged by the Government’s mortgage indeminty scheme and was “poised for growth in 2012 with 25 new sites scheduled to be acquired”.