Modular specialist MTX Contracts has reported a 13 per cent increase in revenue to £129m.
The Cheshire-based building firm also saw its pre-tax profit rise from £5.1m to £6.8m, earning a profit margin of 5.3 per cent, during the financial year ending 31 August 2024.
The group, which uses modern methods of construction (MMC) such as modular techniques to build healthcare facilities, also saw its order book leap from £88m to £125m.
MTX Contracts’ cash at hand rose by £4m to £18.9m, and the group held no bank loan debt.
It employed a monthly average of 80 people during the year, up from 71 the previous year. MTX’s annual wage bill grew by 24 per cent, rising from £3.8m to £4.7m.
The company paid a dividend of £3.75m during the year.
Its directors said the results reflected a “successful period” for the group.
Contract wins during the year included a £49m diagnostic and imaging centre job at Frimley Park Hospital, awarded in January 2024.
The three-storey building (pictured) will hold 74 inpatient beds ranging from single rooms to four-bed bays.
Directors envisaged “further growth in the year ahead”, adding that MTX “continues to build upon its reputation as a leading contractor in design, construction and maintenance of buildings utilising modern methods of construction”.
In 2023, Construction News profiled how the contractor blended traditional and modular methods to deliver a £50m orthopaedic centre at Colchester Hospital in less than two years.
Following the period covered by the latest accounts, MTX announced on 11 February that it had been picked to deliver Royal Surrey County Hospital’s £41.5m Cancer and Surgical Innovation Centre. The facility will have capacity for 7,000 patients to receive surgery each year.
The improvement to MTX’s bottom line – and its recent contract wins – contrast with the struggles of other modular firms.
In January this year, for instance, Scottish modular housebuilder Connect Modular entered administration.
It became the latest casualty in a sector that has also seen the likes of ModPods, Urban Splash House, Ilke Homes, Mid Group, Eco Modular Buildings and Caledonian Modular go under in the past three years.
In addition, TopHat posted a £53.8m loss in its latest accounts for the year to 31 October 2023 and announced last year that it was winding down its modular construction operations.
In September, Skills England said the use of MMC could be “expanded considerably” to help tackle labour shortages, adding that it “has the potential to reduce construction’s reliance on skilled labour pools and drive productivity in the sector”.
