Bam Construction has blamed a combination of inflation and supply chain failures for sinking into a loss in 2023.
Revenue for the year was almost unchanged at £897.6m (2022: £900.9m) but the pre-tax loss of £31.4m compares to a £21.6m profit in 2022. At an operating level, the loss was £31.1m (2022: £21.9m profit).
Year-end work in hand dropped 38% to £606m, from £972m a year before. This was attributed to a combination of being more selective in choosing projects for which to bid and to delays in new project starts.
“Profitability has been impacted by high inflation conditions within the UK and impact of unprecedented levels of supply chain liquidations,” the company said in its annual report.
Bam is not the only tier one contractor to have come unstuck by the rampant escalation of construction costs in 2023. Recent weeks have seen pre-tax losses also reported by Sir Robert McAlpine (£105m), Bouygues UK (£62.1m) and Willmott Dixon (£14.4m).
