AHEAD of the group’s AGM, geotechnical specialist contractor Keller Group has issued an update for the first four months of the year, with trading described as ‘strong’ compared with the same period 12 months earlier.
Performance is in line with expectations, particularly within the group’s North American foundations operations, despite ‘significant macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty’. The group revealed that it remains resilient to increased energy and material costs by capturing price increases across new contracts and through existing contract mechanisms.
Overall, management remains confident that the improved operational and financial performance experienced in recent years will be sustained, and that the group will deliver a full-year result in line with the board’s expectations.
Keller added that order book has strengthened to around £1.7 billion at the end of April 2026. Tendering activity remains ‘buoyant’ and the group has ‘good visibility of future opportunities across all divisions’.
Following completion of the share buybacks announced in 2025, which returned approximately £50 million, the group launched a further £100 million share buyback programme on 30 March. Since then, the group has purchased approximately 834,000 shares at a cost of circa £18 million under this new programme.
“I am very pleased with the performance our teams have delivered so far this year,” said CEO James Wroath. “This has been achieved against a backdrop of continued global uncertainty reflecting the resilience of Keller’s portfolio, the diversity of our contracts and the group’s ability to pivot to growing markets.
“Looking ahead, we continue to target potential bolt-on opportunities across our markets and remain confident in our ability to sustain this momentum and deliver strong performance through the remainder of 2026.”
