Kier Group – Trading Update on 20th should reflect strong Interim Period, with growing Order Book, shares 223p, brokers TP 322p

Mark Watson-Mitchell - 09.01.2026

On Tuesday 20th January, the Kier Group (LON:KIE), whose vision is to be the UK’s leading infrastructure services and construction company, will be reporting a Trading Update for the first-half of its current year.

It should be more than positive and boasting of further growth in its Order Book – such news of which could help to boost still further the upward progress of its shares, now trading at 226p, up some 64% in the last year.

The Business

The £1bn-capitalised group, which is a leading provider of infrastructure services, construction and property developments, is a national contractor with a regional footprint spreading from Penzance to Aberdeen.

At any given time, it generally has over 400 projects on hand, predominantly with central government departments and regional and local authorities, alongside its regulated and private sector clients.

The business, which is supported by around 10,000 employees and more than 16,000 supply chain partners, has the knowledge and experience to deliver across every stage of the project lifecycle, from developing, designing and building, to maintaining and repurposing.

It is a strategic supplier to the UK Government with key strengths in education, healthcare, justice and borders, transport and defence.

Its workload ranges from modern and purpose-built educational and healthcare projects to delivering and maintaining roads, rail, water, energy and telecommunications networks.

AGM Trading Update

On Thursday, 13th November, the group issued an AGM Trading Update reporting a positive start to its 2026 financial year, with trading in line with expectations and a strong order book of approximately £11.6bn, up from £11.0bn at the end of June 2025, securing 94% of projected revenue.

The company has secured significant new contracts, including a £700m highways and infrastructure works contract with Norfolk County Council, a £205m United Utilities Reservoir Works Framework, and multiple education and justice projects totalling around £306m.

Kier also successfully refinanced its revolving credit facility in October 2025, increasing it to £190m from £150m, reflecting banking partners' confidence in its growth prospects and cash generation.

Management Comment

CEO Stuart Togwell stated that:

"The current financial year has started well and we are trading in line with our expectations.

I am excited to be beginning my tenure as Chief Executive and now look forward to working with our exceptional people to drive growth and value for our customers, the communities we serve and our shareholders."

The Equity

There are some 452.87m shares in issue.

The larger holders include Oasis Management (6.00%), UBS Asset Management (5.63%), Brewin Dolphin (5.11%), Charles Stanley Investment Management (5.10%), Lombard Odier Asset Management (5.08%), JO Hambro Capital Management (5.05), Rathbones Investment Management (5.03%), Schroder Investment Management (4.99%), Jupiter Investment Management (4.87%) and Aviva Investors Global Services (4.86%).

Share Buyback Programme

On Wednesday, 17th December, Kier Group declared that it had completed its £20m share buyback programme, which ran from 21st January 2025 to 16th December 2025.

During that period, the company repurchased 10,978,468 ordinary shares for approximately £19,999,997.56, representing about 2.4% of the issued share capital as of 20th January 2025.

The total number of voting rights in the company is now 441,896,922, which shareholders can use for regulatory notification calculations.

Broker Views

There are six analysts who follow the group closely, the consensus average Target Price is 263.20p, with the lowest at 220p and the highest at 322p.

Five of the brokers call the shares out as a Buy, while the sixth suggests that they are a Hold.

Following the group’s mid-November AGM Trading Update, analyst Max Hayes at Cavendish Capital Markets had a Buy note out on the shares, with a 277p Target Price.

For the current year to end-June 2026, he is going for group revenues of £4,273.2m (£4,087.8m), lifting adjusted pre-tax profits to £142.5m (£132.4m), generating earnings of 23.1p (20.5p) and paying a dividend of 8.1p (7.2p) per share.

Hayes sees sales rising to £4,575.7m by 2028, with £160.8m of profits, earnings of 26.3p and a 9.2p dividend.

He stated that:

“Whilst the shares have re-rated strongly this year, we believe significant upside potential remains as Kier continues generating a stable track record on delivery and reporting balance sheet strength.

Demonstrating order book resilience in the face of political uncertainty will also be a key factor, highlighting the benefits of its regulated contract base.”

Over at Panmure Liberum, its analysts Adrian Kearsey and Kate Middleton have a Buy out on the shares, looking for 322p as their Target Price.

My View

Despite a wonderful price progression over the last year, I do feel that there is a lot more to come yet, while the shares at 223p offer some healthy upside based on broker Target Prices.

(Profile 24.06.22 @ 71p set a Target Price of 90p*)

(Profile 20.05.24 @ 146.8p set a Target Price of 177p*)