J Smart & Co (Contractors) PLC said full-year profit multiplied more than five times in its financial year 2024, as the group swung to a net surplus on the valuation of its investment properties.

The Edinburgh-based construction contractor said pretax profit for the financial year ended July 31 was £2.4 million, multiplying up from £105,000 the year before.

Revenue surged 69% higher to £22.0 million from £13.0 million last year, while cost of sales more than doubled to £18.0 million from £6.9 million.

The group also swung to a net surplus of £994,000 on the valuation of its investment properties, from a deficit of £2.2 million a year prior. This surplus offset an operating loss of £328,000 for the year, which swung from an operating profit of £1.5 million last year.

Underlying profit before tax was £1.2 million, down sharply from £2.3 million a year prior, however. The company says the metric disregards the movement in the revaluation of the commercial property to provide ‘a truer reflection of the Group’s performance’.

J Smart & Co proposed a final dividend of 2.27 pence, bring the total dividend for the year to 3.23p, both unchanged from the year before.

Chair David Smart said: ‘Headline group profit on continuing operations increased this financial year, due to the rise in the value of the commercial property portfolio, the profit from the investment sale in a joint venture company and an improved financial performance from some of our subsidiary companies.’

However, Smart continued: ‘Underlying pretax profit decreased substantially this year, mainly due to increased loss provisions in our private housing developments. Our construction sites continue to suffer from longer than anticipated programmes, due to delays in statutory approvals and infrastructure and utility approvals. Trading margins have been negatively affected by these delays and also by the continuing rise in the price of construction materials.

‘The lack of contract work in the housing association sector continues due to these factors, but also by a reluctance by central government to increase funding from their current unviable levels.’

Shares in J Smart & Co closed 3.2% higher at 129.00 pence each in London on Tuesday.

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