Turner & Townsend, the Leeds-based international infrastructure consultancy, said on Wednesday its overall turnover and net revenue for the 12 months to April 30, 2024, rose to £1.5 billion and £1.3 billion – increases of 25% and 22% respectively.
The firm said its global EBITA, showing core profitability, grew 21% to £192 million.
Turner & Townsend is majority-owned by CBRE Group Inc., the international commercial real estate services and investment firm, with the firm’s partners holding a significant minority interest.
The results follow the announcement in July that CBRE’s global project management arm plans to combine with Turner & Townsend, to create a programme, project and cost management business that will have 20,000 employees in over 60 countries.
Turner & Townsend said real estate remains its largest area of business operations globally.
“This segment grew by 25 percent over the past year to £851m (US$1,070m), fuelled by demand in specialist markets including data centre development, and demand for tall buildings such as London’s 50-storey 8 Bishopsgate, which completed in summer 2023,” said Turner & Townsend.
“As global regions reshore and strengthen their industrial capacity, there has been an increase in advanced manufacturing and life sciences investment, including the Project Banksia flu vaccine production facility in Victoria, Australia, and a number of multi-billion pound battery programmes underway across the world.”
Turner & Townsend said its infrastructure work internationally grew 13% to £350 million “with notable expansion in aviation mass transit and defence.”
The firm said: “Nations around the world with increasing populations are pushing to improve regional connectivity, public transport provision and overall capacity in air travel, with the company this year supporting the delivery of Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi, Manchester Airport in the UK, and Toronto Pearson Airport in Canada.”
The global push to meet net-zero targets and strengthen energy security has continued to drive strong investment in renewable energy, helping Turner & Townsend’s energy and natural resources work to grow 24% to £95 million. This included major energy transmission improvement projects with TenneT across Asia and Europe.
“The year saw increased activity across all global regions, with the most significant growth in the Americas and Europe where net revenue increased by 31 percent and 30 percent respectively. In addition to the UK, the rises across Asia, the Middle East and Australia and New Zealand were also in double figures,” said Turner & Townsend.
“Overall headcount for the global business rose by 15 percent in the year, up to 12,300.
“Organic growth has been supported by Turner & Townsend’s strategic acquisitions and partnerships across Europe and North America.
“This includes the first full trading year with public sector project and programme management specialists, Heery, the announcement of the strategic partnership with offshore wind procurement and contract management experts, JUMBO Consulting Group, and the acquisition of boutique operating model modernisation specialists, ON THE MARK (OTM).”
Turner & Townsend chairman and CEO Vincent Clancy said: “In the face of an ever more complex and connected world, success in our industry will be built on businesses’ ability to evolve and reinvent themselves to deliver impactful solutions for clients.
“These excellent figures demonstrate our ability to build strong client partnerships while investing in our people and our global capacity.
“Our scale and reach make us more resilient to market volatility and, crucially, ensure that we are best-placed to anticipate and adapt to clients’ priorities and needs, offering solutions to their challenges wherever they are in the world.
“We’ve created an unrivalled programme, project and cost management capability globally, and our recent acquisitions, as well as the plan to combine CBRE’s project management with Turner & Townsend, only enhances the specialist skills and creative solutions our business can offer.
“Going forward we will have more strength than ever before to make a positive impact for the future – investing in our proposition, technology platforms and talent that our clients around the world can trust and rely on.”