Finance director says staffing levels will now remain 鈥檅roadly flat鈥� after profit rises by two-thirds
The latest wave of redundancies at Hyder will be the last, the engineer has insisted, after profits soared by more than two-thirds over the past six months.
In results for the six months to 30 September, the company announced it had shed about 300 jobs in the UK and Middle East - 7% of the firm鈥檚 workforce - after losing 500 the year before.
Russell Down, group finance director, said that staff levels over the next year would stay 鈥渂roadly flat鈥�.
The firm shed about 130 jobs in the UK and 160 in the Middle East. Jobs in the UK had been cut because of a smaller workload and a focus on profitable areas.
Down said UK staffing levels were broadly right, but the highways part of the business could shrink in numbers.
He said: 鈥淚n the UK we are growing in water and in rail. We are not going to say we always have to have 500 people working on highways. We have a substantial number of highways projects. [But] is it a growth area now? No, it鈥檚 not.鈥�
Despite 拢1.8m in redundancy costs, profit shot up to 拢9.5m, from 拢5.7m in the same six months last year.
Revenue suffered a slight dip, declining from 拢156.3m to 拢149.9m, with turnover in the UK and Germany steady. It fell dramatically in the Middle East, but expanded in Asia Pacific.
鈥淎bu Dhabi has a bit of a cash issue after bailing out Dubai,鈥� Down said, and added that the company was owed about 拢8m in Dubai, approximately 拢1.4m less than in February.
Down dismissed any suggestion that Hyder would be acquired over the next year. 鈥淲e are very clear that we don鈥檛 see the need to be part of a bigger US player,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e are an international player with an international culture. URS [the American firm that acquired UK engineer Scott Wilson in September] are a US firm with a US culture.鈥�
He said that there had been 鈥渘o talks鈥� with potential buyers.
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