Companies
Geotech Giant Keller Group Improves Profit With Strong 2023 Results
CEO Michael Speakman of Keller Group addresses investment analysts in London.
Image: Screenshot from Keller Group video
With its work in the U.S. less hampered by dramatic material price inflation and delivery delays, Keller Group reported profits much higher there in 2023 and in other of the U.K.-based geotechnical contracting giant's global sectors, the company reported.
For the year, the firm (LON:KLR) reported net income of $114 million on $2.97 billion in revenue, compared to $58.7 million and $3.76 billion the year prior.
The 2023 results represented a 6.1% profit margin, a big improvement over the 2022 margin of 3.7%.
The company's North American work stood out, with Keller reporting an operating profit of 9.6%, compared to 4.3% in 2022.
Last year "was a good year," but the company has "plenty of other ideas how to improve still further," CEO Michael Speakman told investment analysts March 5.
"I expect our margin in North America to be in the seven to eight [percent] range going forward,' Speakman added during a question-and-answer session. "Given what we do with the North American market being strong as it is relative to the rest of world, it's eminently possible."
From 2019 to 2023, Keller Group revenue has varied each year from $2.9 billion to $3.8 billion, and its profit in those years has swung between $26.7 million and $115 million.
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Another positive result for 2023 concerns a new development related to fraud committed by two company managers in Australia in 2022.
Keller Group profits from its business unit in that country were inflated by the U.S. equivalent of as much as $20 million in 2023 dollars since 2019, the company revealed in January 2023. The firm also said it had fired the managers after discovering the financial reporting fraud.
But this year it reported finding that the alleged fraud involved no "cash leakage" from the company.
