Keller warns of 'more challenging' year ahead after higher margin boosts profit in 2020

Archived article

Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.

Keller warned that 2021 would be 'more challenging' after reporting annual results that topped market expectations as profit rose on higher margins.

For 2020, pre-tax profit grew to £63.8 million from £51.6 million even as revenue fell 10% to £2.06 billion.

Operating profit was up 6% to £110.1 million, driven by a 'strong first quarter, a resilient second half, particularly in North America, and a full year of profitability in APAC,' the company said.

Underlying operating margin increased to 5.3% from 4.5%.

The company proposed an unchanged final dividend of 23.3p a share.

'As previously indicated, we saw a softening in the order intake during the second half of 2020 and into 2021 with overall trading in the early part of the year relatively subdued,' the company said.

'We therefore anticipate 2021 to be a more challenging year than 2020, particularly in the first half which was especially strong last year,' it added.