Halving of interest payments boosts profit at engineering consultant by over 50%
Engineering consultant Hyder Consulting today said that a decrease in the amount of interest it had to pay out had helped to boost profit in the six months to 28 November.
Pre-tax profit at the company more than doubled from 拢1.2m in the same period last year to 拢2.6m, partly because interest payments were cut by half from 拢1m to 拢0.5m.
The interim dividend recommended by the board rose 75% from 0.2p to 0.35p a share, and turnover rose 27% to 拢80.9m.
Chairman Sir Alan Thomas said that the solid results reflected the fact that the markets in which it operated were still robust.
鈥淲ithin the UK, the award of the 2012 Olympic Games to London should give a further boost to the engineering consulting sector in the south east over the next few years,鈥� he said.
Hyder incurred exceptional costs of 拢0.2m in the period after it closed operations in south-east Asia.
Highlights during the period included the acquisition of Australian consultant Weathered Howe, based in Queensland.
