9 March 2021 | 09:41am
StockMarketWire.com - Keller warned that 2021 would be 'more challenging' after reporting annual results that topped market expectations as profit rose on higher margins.
For 2020, pre-tax profit grew to £63.8 million from £51.6 million even as revenue fell 10% to £2.06 billion.
Operating profit was up 6% to £110.1 million, driven by a 'strong first quarter, a resilient second half, particularly in North America, and a full year of profitability in APAC,' the company said.
Underlying operating margin increased to 5.3% from 4.5%.
The company proposed an unchanged final dividend of 23.3p a share.
'As previously indicated, we saw a softening in the order intake during the second half of 2020 and into 2021 with overall trading in the early part of the year relatively subdued,' the company said.