Gordon Banham has led the North East-based group for more than 20 years
Gordon Banham, CEO of Hargreaves Services plc.(Image: Supplied by Wallbrook PR)
Revenue and pre-tax profits have surged at industrial group Hargreaves Services as its long running CEO has announced he will step down in the summer.
Unaudited half year results for the County Durham group show work in the clean energy, connectivity and environmental services has driven growth including new contracts in waste-to-energy for Enfinium and waste management for Beauparc. Hargreaves is also in the final stages of agreeing work on the Lower Thames Crossing and hopes to pick up earthmoving contracts worth up to £100m.
In the six months to the end of November, Hargreaves saw revenue jump more than 46% to £183.1m while pre-tax profits soared, increasing nearly 170% to £14.3m. The Services business alone generated revenue of £171.4m across the period, and pre-tax profit of £11.7m.
Hargreaves also completed the long awaited sale of its first tranche of renewable energy land. The £8.8m deal covered five assets, including two wind farms and three access agreements, with Hargreaves standing to earn further payment of up to £5m dependent on future wind yields. Around £15m will be returned to shareholders on the back of the deal.
The strong results came as longstanding CEO Gordon Banham announced he will step down from the position in July but will stay involved with the group’s HRMS joint venture and continue to lead on its zinc recycling plant investment. Hargreaves chair Roger McDowell praised Mr Banham’s “entrepreneurial flair” saying he will be sorely missed.
Having led a management buyout in 2004, Mr Banham has been instrumental in transforming Hargreaves from a coal haulage business into a diversified group having also floated the business on the London Stock Exchange in 2005.
Mr Banham said he was incredibly proud of his work over the last 20 years and thanked former and current Hargreaves employees as well as the board. He said: “I was the coal guy and we transitioned the business and its now a green services business. You take egos out of it and Simon is much better equipped, much more highly qualified to lead the services and land business going forward. My experience came from coal.
“I’m really proud of what the team has done. They came from a very black business to a very green business – it’s a real success story for the North East. Look at the steel, the coal and the shipbuilding that has gone and we’re still here.
“So I’m very proud of what we’ve done but you know if your heart of hearts where your skillset lies and this needs to be handed over to a better and younger person. But I’m not leaving, I’m actually going to be running the German business and reporting to Simon, because that’s where my skills are.”
Group chair, Roger McDowell said: “I’m delighted to once again report a strong set of results for the group. This has been another period of substantial growth within our Services business, demonstrating the value that we can bring to our clients and sustainable infrastructure more generally.
“We have seen the completion of material sales within Hargreaves Land and a return to meaningful profits from our joint venture, HRMS. All of which bodes well for the second half and underpins the board’s confidence in delivering a full year result ahead of current market expectations.
“Furthermore, the completion of the first tranche of the renewable energy land assets is a critical milestone in the realisation strategy of that element of the group and has resulted in our decision to return up to £15.0m of cash back to shareholders this financial year.”
Hargreaves interim dividend was raised 5.4% to 19.5p.
