Since getting rid of Walter Lilly & Co Limited last October, Renew is now a pureplay engineering business, providing maintenance and renewal of assets across water, rail, roads and energy sectors.
“Given the mission-critical nature of our services and our record order book, bolstered by our diversified and resilient business model, we remain uniquely positioned to capitalise on the significant growth opportunities in each of our end markets,” the board says.
Renew says that it had an “incredibly successful” AMP7 control period in the water industry and has entered AMP8 “in our strongest position yet”.
Rail has thrown up some issues with the delay and deferment of certain works but these were described as “specific and isolated”. The board said: “Looking ahead, we fully anticipate the stringent regulatory drivers in this sector will compel the execution of the critical planned renewals work bank across the network.”
It also expects the budget for the strategic roads network in the next Roads Investment Strategy (RIS3) funding cycle to be significantly greater than the £4.3bn of RIS2.
The energy sector is considered a source of significant opportunity for Renew. Its most recent acquisition was Full Circle, a Dutch company that specialises in the repair, maintenance and monitoring of onshore wind turbines, for which it paid £50.5m last autumn. It also acquired Excalon Holdings last summer to tap into the electricity transmission and distribution market.
The board said that the acquisitions pipeline remained “active”.
Posting its interim results for the six months ended 31st March 2025, Renew group revenue increased 13% to £569.3m and pre-tax profit was up 5% at £31.0m (2024 H1: £29.5m).
Adjusted operating profit remained flat at £32m during the first half of the year due to the delay and deferment within certain rail programmes.
Chief executive Paul Scott said: “Renew’s foundations have never been stronger in terms of the breadth of our service offering, our secured new and existing frameworks and our corresponding record order book. As we enter the second half of the year, we are well placed to deliver on our ambitious long term growth strategy. As a result, the group remains confident in its ability to deliver against revised full year expectations, which are ahead of the prior year.”