NEW figures from York employer the Shepherd Group reveal today a stark divide between profits at its highly successful Portakabin business and losses at its now sold-off construction operations.

The group today published accounts for the 18 months to December 31, 2015, a period which included a major restructure in which Shepherd Engineering Services (SES) and Shepherd FM, plus a number of contracts and strategic frameworks from Shepherd Construction Limited, were sold to Wates Group, while the Shepherd Homes business was sold to Galliford Try’s house-building arm, Linden Homes.

The profit from its continuing operations - largely Portakabin - was £36.7 million, compared with £10.1 million for the year ending June 2014. But losses incurred by the sold businesses, plus disposal and restructure costs, led to an overall loss after tax of £28.1 million.

It is understood one particular building contract in London was responsible for a significant part of the losses.

A group spokesman stressed that the move to sell parts of the business was due to a long-term analysis of how its different arms were performing rather than a reaction to the losses incurred in the year to December 31, but the figures were “a vivid illustration” of why the decision was taken.

Group chairman David Williams said: “These diverse results illustrate both the recent past and the promising future of the Shepherd Group.

“The past is reflected in the losses arising out of a small number of very challenging legacy contracts experienced by the divested contracting businesses.

“We recognised these operations needed greater scale to deliver the full potential offered by their exceptional technical capability and they were successfully transferred to Wates Group, who are well-positioned to strategically exploit these businesses.

“Our efforts are now very clearly focused on Shepherd Group’s future, which is represented by the continuing success and profitability of Portakabin. The further development of this market-leading business is in line with our strategy of investing in high-performing businesses consistently growing shareholder value.”

The group had a turnover of £879.5 million during the 18-month period, a balance sheet with a net worth of £182.9 million and cash of £28.1 million.

The spokesman said it had continued to invest in its most profitable activities within Portakabin, with £56.2 million net capital spending, including significant expansion of its hire fleet.

He said they were now six months on, adding: “Portakabin goes from strength to strength. It’s strong, market-leading, and it’s producing really high-quality buildings.”