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Keller Group PLC on Tuesday said its underlying profitability was ahead of market expectations in the first half of the year, as it confirmed its outlook for the rest of 2025 and backed this with a 10% dividend hike. Keller shares were up 5.8% to 1,394.00 pence on Tuesday morning in London. It was the third biggest FTSE 250 gainer, the index itself up just 0.5%. Keller is a London-based geotechnical specialist contractor, applying foundation and ground improvement techniques across the construction sector. Pretax profit declined by 8.3% to £87.4 million in the six months that ended June 30 from £95.3 million a year before, as revenue slipped by 2.2% to £1.46 billion from £1.49 billion. Revenue was up 1% at constant currency, Keller said. Underlying operating profit was down 9.4% to £102.6 million from £113.2 million. This was ahead of company-compiled consensus for £97.4 million in the recent half. Underlying profit margin narrowed to 7.0% from 7.6%. Looking ahead, Keller said it expects to meet market expectation for the full year, which it put at £215 million in underlying operating profit. This would be up 1.1% from £212.6 million in 2024. Keller said its outlook was based on a strong order book, which was stable at £1.6 billion. The company raised its interim dividend by 10% to 18.3 pence from 16.6p and said it plans to increase the full-year dividend by 5%. It paid 49.7p for 2024, so this would imply an payout of 52.19p. That would be slowdown from the 10% increase in 2024. Keller also will conduct a new £25 million share buyback in the second half. ‘We have delivered a good first half performance against a strong comparative period, with underlying business performance remaining robust,’ said Chief Financial Officer David Burke. ‘Our strong balance sheet provides us with flexibility, enabling organic growth as well as targeted M&A.’ Keller said James Wroath will join the company as chief executive officer on August 18. Wroath was named back in June as the new CEO, replacing Michael Speakman, who departed to undergo medical treatment. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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