Supply chain issues and cost overruns at a large project plunged BAM’s UK building business to a £13m loss last year.

But the problems at BAM Construction were avoided at the Dutch construction group’s UK civils business.

BAM Nuttall consolidated its position as the biggest of the two UK businesses while putting in a stellar performance more than trebling profit to £66m from £19m in 2022.

The strong improvement at civil engineering came from improved project results and settlement for a legacy project.

This was driven by a sharp uplift in profit margin, improved to 5.7% from 1.8% in 2022.

BAM UK trading performance

2023 Profit
2022 Profit
2023 T/O
2022 T/O

BAM Construction UK
-£13m
£30m
£895m
£908m

BAM Nuttall
£66m
£19m
£1,165m
£1,063m

Ventures
£31m
£11m
£276m
£190m

BAM Nuttall’s performance salvaged the overall performance of BAM’s combined UK and Ireland operations which delivered a near 50% rise in profit to £104m from flat revenue at £2.68bn.

Ruud Joosten, CEO of Royal BAM Group said: “The performance of Construction UK disappointed due to supply chain issues and cost overruns at a large project.

“Civil engineering UK, Ventures UK and Ireland contributed well.”

He added that in the UK, the civils market was expected to be stable while in the short-term the construction market would be more challenging.

Joosten said: “The 2023 UK Energy Act to strengthen energy security and support the delivery of net zero is a positive development.

“BAM is positioned strongly in the energy market, following the successful execution of projects in this product market combination.”

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