(Alliance News) - Shares in Keller Group PLC rose on Wednesday, after the company hailed successful recent trading and said that its results would be "materially ahead" of the previous year.

Shares in the London-based geotechnical engineering company were up 16% at 1,316.00 pence each in London late Wednesday morning.

Keller Group reported a "very strong start" to 2024, and announced a "material increase" to its full-year expectations.

The company said that the strong momentum achieved in its 2023, the results of which were released in March, continued into the new year.

In 2023, Keller Group delivered GBP2.97 billion in revenue, up slightly from GBP2.94 billion the year before, as pretax profit more than doubled to GBP125.6 million from GBP56.3 million.

In 2024 so far, Keller Group said trading had been strong in North America, driven by an improved operational performance in the foundations business and at its Suncoast cables manufacturing arm.

However, weak demand in the residential and commercial sectors persisted in Europe and the Middle East, Keller Group said, though the infrastructure sector remains resilient.

"This momentum, combined with a strong order book and recent contract wins, gives us good visibility and enhanced confidence in performance for the remainder of the year", Keller Group said.

"Accordingly, we now anticipate full year performance to be materially ahead of the board's original expectations", Keller added, though it did not provide specifics of its forecast.

Keller Group is scheduled to publish its interim results on August 6.

By Hugh Cameron, Alliance News reporter

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