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(Sharecast News) - Keller Group reported a rise in first-half profit and revenue on Tuesday as it hailed a record order book and an "outstanding" performance in North America.
In the six months to the end of June, underlying operating profit grew 14.9% to 117.9m, on revenue of 1.6bn, up 10.3% on the same period a year earlier.
The dividend per share was hiked 56.8% to 28.7p and the order book increased to 1.9bn from 1.6bn, including the benefit of the multi-year I-40 highway reconstruction contract variation order announced in June.
The geotechnical specialist contractor said North America benefited from record volume and profit growth, underpinned by significant demand for infrastructure and data centre projects.
It also highlighted an improved performance in Europe and the Middle East, with margin and profit growth principally driven by the Middle East. In Asia-Pacific, continued momentum in Austral largely offset margin pressures in the Australia foundations market, it said.
Chief executive James Wroath said: "I am delighted to report an excellent first half that reflects the group's strong operational execution and continued commercial discipline. Our teams around the world have delivered an outstanding performance with record revenue and profit growth in North America, our largest division.
"We are building further momentum, with a record order book of 1.9bn demonstrating the benefits of our geographic and sector diversification. This also clearly illustrates our ability to capitalise on megatrends, such as recent increased investment in infrastructure and data centres.
"Our interim dividend has been increased in line with the updated dividend policy we announced in March, reflecting our confidence in the sustainability of our performance.
"Looking ahead, we are well positioned to deliver another strong performance through the remainder of 2026 and beyond."
At 1343 BST, the shares were up 1% at 3,080p.
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