Latest results for the group’s construction arm for the six months to June 30 2024 show revenue fell to £43m from £55.6m last time generating a pre-tax profit of £2.9m.

The company said: “Henry Boot Construction (HBC) is behind schedule in winning work for this year, with a secured orderbook of 61% at H1 24, against a medium term target of 65% secured at the start of the year. As a result, turnover is expected to be lower this year.

“In July 2024, it was announced that Lee Powell, currently CEO of GMI Construction, will assume the role of Managing Director of HBC, joining the business in January 2025. Lee’s immediate focus will be to restore and grow the orderbook.

“Looking ahead, HBC has a healthy pipeline of opportunities, and is actively pursuing £54m of Pre-Construction Services Agreements across urban development and residential schemes.”

Powell’s 28-year career to date has included senior positions at Wates Construction and Caddick Construction.

More recently he has spearheaded the growth of the GMI Construction business in the north of England and the Midlands, delivering large-scale projects for clients such as Siemens, Bruntwood and Muse.

Across the whole land promotion, property investment and development and construction business group turnover for the half year was £106m from £179m with pre-tax profit at £3.7m from £24.9m.

Tim Roberts, Chief Executive Officer, said:”During the first half of the year we have started to see an improvement in our markets and this together with our focus on prime land and development, plus premium homes has helped us to achieve relatively strong property sales.

“The lower forward sales with which we started the year has affected our first half financial performance and as flagged at the time of our 2023 results, we expect 2024 to be heavily weighted towards the second half.

“With 81% of budgeted sales already completed, exchanged or reserved, we remain on track to perform in line with market expectations for the full year.

“Furthermore, we remain confident in our key markets, and have significant latent value in our development and land portfolio which is held at cost, as well as plenty of opportunity to grow in order to meet our stated medium term targets. This together with our rock solid balance sheet underpins our decision to raise the interim dividend by 5%.”