T Clarke wins record orders but margins may not rise until 2015

9th May 2014 11:36

Building services contractor T Clarke reported record orders and said markets were picking up, but warned it may not feel the impact of the recovery until next year.Clarke said its forward order book had reached an all-time high of £265m versus £230m a year ago, while revenue rose to £70m at April 30th against £65m last time. It has won projects from BP, the NHS, local authorities and developers in places such as London, Scotland, Bristol, Plymouth and Sunderland.Clarke said it had traded in line with expectations since the start of 2014.Chief Executive Mark Lawrence (pictured) said: "Whilst there are clear signs of improvements in our markets, we still believe it will be 2015 before we see meaningful improvement to margins in our most competitive markets."He added: "Our commitment to direct employment should give us tendering advantages given recent HMRC changes towards the use of self employed operatives."Clarke said Chairman Russell Race was retiring from the company after 16 years at Friday's annual meeting. At 11:52, shares in T Clarke were flat at 82p.PW