Envelope specialists Lindner Prater Ltd and Prater Ltd have made a combined pre-tax profit after three years in the red, despite plummeting turnover.
New accounts for the year to 31 December 2024 show Lindner Prater Ltd’s turnover fell by 27 per cent to £44.2m.
The firm said this was due mainly to delays on a “significant transport infrastructure project”, although it provided no further details.
But it posted a pre-tax profit of £3.2m, delivering a margin of 7.4 per cent, compared with a £3m loss and a negative margin of 4.9 per cent in 2023.
Prater Ltd saw its revenue plunge from £63.9m to £10.7m, although it rebounded from a pre-tax loss of £127,280 to a £620,590 profit last year.
As a result, the two firms posted a combined turnover of £54.9m, profit of £3.9m and a 7.1 per cent margin.
This followed pre-tax losses of £6.9m in 2021, £36.6m in 2022 and £3.1m in 2023.
The latest accounts show that Linder Prater almost trebled its cash at hand from £2.7m to £7.8m, while Prater’s cash balance improved by £210,000 to £1.6m.
Neither company paid out a dividend.
Both firms are part of German multinational Lindner Group.
In his strategic report accompanying the Linder Prater Ltd accounts, managing director Gavin Hamblett said: “The company maintains a robust balance sheet and remains self-financed without any external borrowing.”
Linder Prater Ltd’s order book for 2025 and beyond “shows good prospects across various sectors including stadia, commercial and infrastructure projects”, he added.
“This positions the company well to capitalise on future opportunities in the construction market, maintaining a geographical spread across the UK.”
Its portfolio of projects includes Everton FC’s new stadium (pictured during construction), the Co-op Live arena in Manchester and 8 Bishopsgate in London.
The firm undertook a “thorough review” of its operations but its strategy remains unchanged, Hamblett said.
Nor has there been “any significant material impact on current live projects or staff retention”, he added.
But the firm’s average monthly headcount decreased from 316 to 251 employees. Its annual wage bill fell from £20.3m to £19.5m.
Prater Ltd’s bottom line in 2023 was hit by contract provisions of £28.8m, but these fell to £5.8m last year.
However, the firm acknowledged that it “may have an exposure to costs on its long-term contracts”.
The potential level of exposure could only be calculated once specialists and insurers determine which party is liable for defects or breaches of contract on the unnamed projects, Prater Ltd added.
Until then, the firm will not include provision for these costs as a liability in its financial statements “as it is not practicable to be able to reliably estimate the future costs”.
Linder Prater was ranked 6th in the CN Specialists Index for envelope contractors last year, based on the two firms’ combined figures.
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