Keller piles in the orders

The engineering group involved in the building of the Millennium Dome laid the foundations for a bumper end to the year today.

London-based Keller, which specialises in ground engineering, said trading had been “extremely good” with an “outstanding performance” in October as it took advantage of a strong European market.

Shares in the company, which is working on a hotel development at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal Five, jumped 6% following the news as it said its order book had increased by 15% since the end of June.

Keller Ground Engineering has UK sites in Wetherby, Stockport, Cardiff, Coventry and Belfast, while it also has bases under the Makers UK brand in Hitchin, Huntingdon, Sheffield and Newmarket. Its Accrete arm is located in Newbury and Keller Eurodrill is in Derby.

Chief executive Justin Atkinson, said: “We are currently enjoying strong demand for our ground engineering solutions in most parts of the group and our strong sales growth continues to outstrip market growth rates.”

As a result the firm said it expected full-year results, which are due on December 31, would be “significantly above” current market expectations.

The company said its strong performance was reflected across the globe with powerful demand in the US commercial and public infrastructure markets.

It did point to weak sales at its Suncoast concrete construction arm because of a slowdown in the US property market.

Keller, which employs more than 5,100 staff in 30 countries around the world, also reported good first-time contributions from new acquisitions.

Mr Atkinson said: “Whilst we remain cautious about the sustainability of the extremely buoyant trading in the US, we are confident of delivering further improvement in our other geographic segments.”

One of the firm’s American arms, Hayward Baker, carried out work on the New Orleans levee and canal repair programme following Hurricane Katrina a year ago.

Engineers worked from a barge on the 17th Street Canal to strengthen soft soils as part of building work to bolster the city’s flood defences.

Meanwhile, the company is currently working on converting the Millennium Done after laying the initial foundations for the Thames-side venue in 1998.

It has also carried out work on the new Goldman Sachs building in New York and has been involved with several hotels on the man-made island of Palm Jumeirah in Dubai.

David Phillips, an analyst at Altium Securities, thought the firm had shown “extremely positive momentum”.

He said: “Keller has announced a very positive trading statement which signals yet another upgrade to earnings – the fifth this year.

“The UK is bouncing back strongly on the back of ground engineering, Europe is moving ahead well – led by Germany – and Australia continues to benefit, especially given recent acquisitions.”

Shares were up more than 6% today – or 49p – at 824p.