Keller Group plc, the world’s largest geotechnical specialist contractor, issues a trading update for the first four months of the year ahead of its Annual General Meeting, which will be held at 10.00am today.
Trading in the period was strong compared with the prior year and in line with the Group’s expectations, particularly within the Group’s North American foundations operations, despite significant macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty. The Group remains resilient to macro-driven increased energy and material costs by capturing price increases across new contracts and through existing contract mechanisms.
Overall, management remains confident that the improved operational and financial performance experienced in recent years will be sustained, and that the Group will deliver a full year result in line with the Board’s expectations.
The Group’s order book has strengthened during the period to c£1.7bn at the end of April 2026. Tendering activity remains buoyant and the Group has good visibility of future opportunities across all divisions.
Following completion of the share buybacks announced in 2025, which returned approximately £50m, the Group launched a further £100m share buyback programme on 30 March 2026. Since launch, the Group has purchased approximately 834,000 shares at a cost of c£18m under this new programme.
The Group’s net debt/EBITDA leverage ratio at the first half of 2026 is expected to be similar to the prior half year (2025 HY: 0.2x), well below the Group’s 0.5x–1.5x target range, despite the higher dividend payout and the further share buyback programme.
Looking ahead, we continue to target potential bolt-on opportunities across our markets and remain confident in our ability to sustain this momentum and deliver strong performance through the remainder of 2026.”
Keller will announce its Interim Results on 4 August 2026. The Group also intends to host a Capital Markets Day on 14 October 2026 in London.
For further information, please contact:
Keller Group plc
James Wroath, Chief Executive Officer
David Burke, Chief Financial Officer
Nicola Rogers, Group Head of Investor Relations
www.keller.com
020 7616 7575
FTI Consulting
Nick Hasell
Matthew O’Keeffe
020 3727 1340
Notes to editors:
Keller is the world's largest geotechnical specialist contractor providing a wide portfolio of advanced foundation and ground improvement techniques used across the entire construction sector. With around 10,000 staff and operations across five continents, Keller tackles an unrivalled 5,500 projects every year, generating annual revenue of c.£3bn.
Cautionary statements:
This document contains certain 'forward-looking statements' with respect to Keller's financial condition, results of operations and business and certain of Keller's plans and objectives with respect to these items. Forward-looking statements are sometimes, but not always, identified by their use of a date in the future or such words as 'anticipates', 'aims', 'due', 'could', 'may', 'should', 'expects', 'believes', 'intends', 'plans', 'potential', 'reasonably possible', 'targets', 'goal' or 'estimates'. By their very nature forward looking statements are inherently unpredictable, speculative and involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There are a number of factors that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, changes in the economies and markets in which the Group operates; changes in the regulatory and competition frameworks in which the Group operates; the impact of legal or other proceedings against or which affect the Group; and changes in interest and exchange rates. For a more detailed description of these risks, uncertainties and other factors, please see the Principal risks and uncertainties section of the Strategic report in the Annual Report and Accounts. All written or verbal forward looking-statements, made in this document or made subsequently, which are attributable to Keller or any other member of the Group or persons acting on their behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the factors referred to above. Keller does not intend to update these forward-looking statements. Nothing in this document should be regarded as a profits forecast. This document is not an offer to sell, exchange or transfer any securities of Keller Group plc or any of its subsidiaries and is not soliciting an offer to purchase, exchange or transfer such securities in any jurisdiction. Securities may not be offered, sold or transferred in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the US Securities Act.