Pre-close trading update & notice of results
Hargreaves Services plc anticipates reporting Group revenue ahead of expectations and profit before tax in line with market forecasts for the year ended 31 May 2026, with growth in profitability across its Services, Hargreaves Land, and HRMS divisions. The Services business benefited from strong activity in connectivity, clean energy, and environmental markets, including major infrastructure projects and a £7m non-recurring profit from a mining services contract settlement. Hargreaves Land is set for a substantial profitability increase due to the £14m net cash proceeds from renewable energy land asset disposals and progress at Blindwells. HRMS expects higher profits, supported by a stabilising German economy and steady performance from its steel waste recycling facility, with early-stage investment in a Zinc Recycling facility progressing as planned. As of 31 May 2026, the Group held £21.6m in cash reserves, higher than expected due to working capital timing, and maintained a strong liquidity position after returning £20m to shareholders. Total lease-related debt stood at approximately £40.5m.
Select text to share a quote on X · sign in to keep highlights & notes in your HSP notes
Hargreaves Services plc (AIM: HSP), a diversified group delivering services to the environmental, infrastructure and property sectors, provides the following update on trading ahead of reporting its results for the year ended 31 May 2026.
The Board expects to report Group revenue ahead and profit before tax ("PBT") in line with market expectations*, reflecting the mix of contribution and an increase in profitability year on year across all three business units of Services, Hargreaves Land and the Group's German Joint Venture, Hargreaves Raw Materials Services GmbH ("HRMS").
Hargreaves Services
The Services business has continued to deliver strong performance, underpinned by high activity levels across Connectivity, Clean Energy and the Environment markets. Activity has remained robust on the Group's two large infrastructure projects at HS2 and Sizewell C Nuclear Power Station. Significantly, the year has seen the Group secure its first contract position on Lower Thames Crossing, commencing our third major UK infrastructure project. Additionally, the period saw the settlement of the Mining Services Contract with Tungsten West plc, which generated a non-recurring profit of £7m. Overall, the Services business remains a resilient and dependable growth driver to the Group.
Hargreaves Land
The Group's Land portfolio is expected to deliver a substantial increase in profitability compared with the prior period, driven by the previously announced disposals of the first and second tranches of renewable energy land assets, which together generated net cash proceeds of £14m during the period. In addition, the business completed two sales at Blindwells, which further crystallised value and marked further progress at this flagship development.
HRMS
HRMS has maintained its momentum and is expected to report higher profits than in the year ended 31 May 2025. Performance has been supported in part by a stabilising German economy following weaker conditions in 2024 and 2025, while the underlying performance of the steel waste recycling facility has remained steady.
Early-stage investment in the Zinc Recycling facility is progressing to plan, with construction expected to begin over the summer and commissioning targeted for early 2028.
Cash and Debt
As at 31 May 2026, Hargreaves held cash reserves of £21.6m (2025: £23.3m), higher than market expectation due to timing of working capital. The Group returned £20m back to shareholders via a tender offer during the period, and still maintains a strong liquidity position thereafter. The surplus cash to support the tender was generated by the disposals of the two tranches of the renewable energy land assets. The only debt held by the Group, excluding that within its Joint Ventures, relates to leases for specific operating plant. The total value of this at the year-end was approximately £40.5m (2025: £32.8m).
Notification of Results
The Board expects to report its results for the year ended 31 May 2026 on Wednesday 29 July 2026. Details of the analyst meeting and investor meeting to accompany the results, via the Investor Meet Company platform, will be provided in due course.
Investors can sign up to Investor Meet Company for free, add to meet Hargreaves Services and receive invitations as soon as they're issued here.
* The Company considers consensus market expectations prior to the release of this announcement for the year ended 31 May 2026 to be revenue of £288.2m, underlying PBT of £33.4m, EPS of 64.1p and cash of £14.5m.
Cleaned text: letterheads, contacts and legal notices removed. View the original announcement ↗ · Company filings. Not investment advice.