SICON FINANCIAL RESULTS 2022
SICON FINANCIAL RESULTS 2022
Sicon Limited, the parent company of Sisk’s construction and construction related activities in Ireland, the United Kingdom and Europe, has announced financial results for the year ended 31 December 2022.
Key figures*
Turnover of €1.73 billion
Profit before tax of €11.6 million
The Group maintained high levels of cash throughout the year and has no bank borrowings
*Over 98% of the Group’s turnover is derived from construction and related activities. The figures above also incorporate the results of the Korine Property Partners and Origo Distribution businesses, both of which are wholly owned subsidiaries.
Headline figures – Sicon Accounts
2022 (€m) 2021 (€m)
Turnover 1,737.7 1,485.7
Profit before tax 11.5 19.2
Geographical spread of turnover
2022 (€m) 2021 (€m)
Ireland 997.8 715.5
UK 490.9 499.2
Continental Europe 249.0 271
Quote
Commenting on the results, CEO of John Sisk and Son, Paul Brown, said: “I am pleased to report a strong financial performance by the Group during 2022, demonstrating the resilience of the business despite continued macro-economic uncertainty and inflationary pressures. Over the past year, we have continued to enhance our legacy of building excellence with a modern, technologically advanced approach to the delivery of critical infrastructure, creating opportunities for people and contributing to societal progress. As we continue to deliver on our purpose of creating places for future generations, the strength of the Group balance sheet and the high quality of our order book will enable us to capture opportunities for profitable growth, while remaining resilient in dealing with the macro-economic challenges we face.”
2022 Business Review
Development activity
Acquisition by Sisk of remaining 50% of Sensori FM
Acquisition by Sisk of Fuse Rail in UK
Ireland
The results for the year reflected strong underlying activity in the core sectors of the Irish construction industry in which we operate.
The business experienced continued growth in the Data, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Life Sciences, Advanced Manufacturing, Commercial, Retail, Civil Engineering, and Pharmaceutical sectors.
The business has a very strong order book for 2023, with a good line of sight into 2024.
Key projects
One Wilton Park in Dublin was handed over to the client IPUT Real Estate Dublin and is now occupied providing a new hub for LinkedIn. Sisk is currently working on the next phase of the Wilton Park scheme.
In March 2022, Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) selected the Sisk/Lagan Joint Venture (JV) to undertake its Dublin Airport Airside and Landside civil engineering framework and work has been ongoing at the Airport.
In 2022, Sisk achieved a significant milestone on the Dunkettle Interchange project as a new free-flow link road opened between the N25 eastbound and the M8 northbound, the main route out of the city onto the Dublin Road, with the project due to complete in 2023.
Sisk is also actively involved on the biggest commercial property investment in Limerick, and one of the largest outside of Dublin, at Project Opera.
UK
A combination of factors including the lingering effects of Covid-19 shutdowns and price inflation, particularly in respect of the energy component of input costs on fixed price contracts, impacted on performance in the UK, with the business reporting a small loss for the year.
The business anticipates returning to profitability in 2023, with a very strong order book for the current year and good line of sight into 2024.
In addition, the acquisition of Fuse Rail, an electrification and specialist service provider in the rail sector in the UK, in January 2022 will bolster the Group’s already strong Rail market offering, which we expect to grow significantly over the next five years.
Key projects
The Mercian, the tallest residential tower in Birmingham was completed and handed over in 2022. The scheme includes 481 apartments over 42-storeys and related occupier amenities, including a cinema and a 200-metre rooftop running track.
Construction of a new state-of-the-art campus for Santander in Milton Keynes is almost complete. This new office will be home to over 6,000 employees and will bring together staff from the bank’s existing local office buildings into one location.
Sisk is close to completion of the Isle of Man Ferry Terminal building in Liverpool’s docks which will deliver new works class services to passengers.
Wembley Park continues to be a major location for Sisk in London, with work ongoing on the latest phase of this development for our client, Quintain.
Construction of No 1 Birmingham Health Innovation Campus (BHIC) in Selly Oak is underway, marking a major milestone for the region’s rapidly growing life sciences sector.
Europe
Our European construction businesses provide mission critical facilities in Data and ICT, Life Sciences and Advanced Manufacturing to a range of multi-national clients across several countries in mainland Europe. We are currently operating in Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Croatia, Netherlands and Switzerland.
The Group’s European turnover is derived from a combination of direct construction work and the provision of fee-based construction management services.
This business performed well in 2022, and currently has a number of large construction projects in its orderbook which will be delivered over the next two years.
Manufacturing
Vision Built, which specialises in the design, manufacture, and installation of innovative building structures in both Ireland and the United Kingdom, relocated its main manufacturing activities from Galway to a new facility in Sligo during 2022.
The business has traded strongly during the year and is well placed to continue to develop and expand the scope and scale of its operations into 2023 and beyond.
Facilities Management
The Group acquired control of Sensori FM in January 2022. The company provides integrated facilities management services, intelligent building solutions, energy management, planned preventative maintenance and full turnkey project delivery for its clients in Ireland.
Sensori has a large client base spread across a wide range of business sectors, including Manufacturing, Life Sciences, Government, Education, Healthcare and Retail, and expects to experience continued revenue growth in 2023.
The business has invested in the latest technology and increased its highly skilled resources in recent years to expand the scale of its activities.
Outlook
The Group is delivering secured work for 2023, with some excellent project and framework wins, and has good visibility into 2024. This work is being secured in all parts of our business and is targeting workload in line with our strategic intentions, including our continued diversification into frameworks in Ireland and the UK.
Both our Life Sciences and Data Centre teams in Ireland, the UK and Europe, are continuing to develop a strong pipeline of opportunities.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Michael McDonnell Managing Editor of Irish Construction Industry Magazine & Plan Magazine
Email: michael@irishconstruction.com WWW.MCDMEDIA.IE WWW.IRISHCONSTRUCTION.COM
