BCEGI sees revenue rise to £29m from £2m in a year

Beijing Construction Engineering Group International’s UK arm made a profit for the first time since its establishment in 2013 as revenues hit £29m, according to annual results published this week.

The results, its third set of annual figures filed with Companies House since its incorporation in November 2013, showed a turnover of £28.5m and a pre-tax profit of £174,000 for the 12 months to 31 December 2016, leaving it with a pre-tax profit margin of 0.6%.

This compares to a turnover of just £2.3m and a pre-tax loss of £618,000 for the same period a year earlier. The contractor also posted a pre-tax loss of £879,000 in its first-ever results, covering the year to 31 December 2014.

The results cap a period of rapid growth for the contractor, which first entered the UK market at Manchester’s Airport City, where it is a partner alongside Manchester Airports Group and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund. Carillion was also a partner before its collapse earlier this year.

BCEGI was chosen by developers Scarborough Group and Fairbriar International to deliver the first phase of Manchester’s £700m Middlewood Locks development in 2015, and is also being lined up for further phases.

In total, the developers plan to build around 2,000 homes and up to 750,000 sq ft of commercial space at the site in Salford, potentially including two towers of 50 and 30 storeys.

Earlier this year, Place North West also revealed the contractor had secured its first project in Liverpool, the £80m, 35-storey The Lexington PRS development for client Moda.

BCEGI was contacted by Place North West but declined to comment on the results.