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Keller Group PLC shares climbed on Tuesday as it said it intends to launch a £100 million share buyback programme and reported higher earnings for 2025. The London-based geotechnical specialist contractor said pretax profit increased 1.4% to £186.4 million in 2025 from £183.9 million in 2024, while diluted earnings per share were up 2.8% at 198.7 pence from 193.3p. Revenue rose 3.4%, or 5.9% at constant exchange rates, to £3.09 billion from £2.99 billion. Keller said its results reflect ‘sustained improvement in operational and financial performance’ helped by ‘geographic diversity, sector agility and resilience’. The final dividend for 2025 was 52.1p per share, up 57% from 33.1p a year ago. This brought the total dividend for the year to 70.4p per share, up 42% from 49.7p. In March last year, the company announced a multi-year share buyback programme. Two tranches of £25 million were launched during 2025, with £44 million in capital returned to shareholders by Monday. Keller said it intends to launch a further £100 million programme in 2026 following completion of the current £25 million tranche. Looking ahead, Keller said it entered the new financial year with ‘a high-quality order book, healthy tendering activity, strong balance sheet, and a clear strategic direction’. The company said it remains confident that it is well placed to build on its momentum and deliver further progress in 2026. James Wroath joined the company as chief executive officer in August. ‘Keller’s outstanding financial performance, strong balance sheet and cash generation were a key attraction for me in joining. The group has a compelling proposition for all our stakeholders, and I am optimistic about the scale of opportunity ahead on which Keller is uniquely positioned to capitalise,’ CEO Wroath said. ‘Having reviewed the strategic work undertaken prior to my appointment, the central conclusion is the importance of local market share as the key driver of earnings. Our growth strategy will therefore be to enhance our position in our chosen markets by continuing to offer solutions backed by our product and engineering capability and by targeting higher growth customer segments whilst maintaining our margin discipline.’ Shares in Keller were up 8.8% at 2,175.00p on Tuesday morning in London. The wider FTSE 250 index was down 2.6%. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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