LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Construction and services company Kier said on Thursday that it swung to a full-year loss as it announced the retirement of chairman Philip Cox.
In the year to the end of June, the group swung to a pre-tax loss of £245m from a profit of £106m the year before as revenue ticked down to £4.1m from £4.2m.

Kier incurred exceptional charges of £341m, mostly relating to preparing businesses for sale, restructuring and significant loss-making contracts.

Chief executive Andrew Davie said this was a "disappointing" performance in a "difficult" year.

"However, we are building firm foundations for the future: we have a new management team in place, we have defined our strategic priorities and we are taking decisive actions to deliver them," he said.

"We have a strong order book, reflecting the strength of the underlying business, the quality of our people and the group's capabilities. The sale of Kier Living is progressing well and we are exploring options to accelerate the release of capital from our Property business. The re-shaping of the group is designed to reduce its overall indebtedness during FY2020 and to restore Kier to robust financial health."

Kier shares tumbled in June after it warned that full-year underlying operating profit would be around £25m lower than previously expected.

The company, which works on projects such as Crossrail, also announced on Thursday that chairman Philip Cox will retire and step down from the board once a successor has been appointed.

At 1610 BST, the shares were up 0.2% at 132.33p.

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