Byrne Group has endured a further year of losses after problem projects secured by builder Ellmer and fit-out arm Chorus took their toll.

In the year to March 2016, profits at the core concrete business trebled to £6 million, though the conclusion of a number of loss making contracts secured by builder Ellmer and fit-out arm Chorus ran up £14.6 million worth of losses.

This resulted in the group suffering an overall loss of £11.9 million before tax after falling £4 million into the red in 2015.

During 2016, Chorus achieved completion certificates on its three remaining loss-making contracts in London.

Now, Byrne Group will look to recover cash from an under-performing M&E contractor that caused delay on one of the projects.

Byrne Group saw its turnover increase by 10% to £329 million after a year of strong orders, with work getting under way on London’s Shell Centre redevelopment, an extension for retailer Westfield at Shepherd Bush and the redevelopment of the former BBC TV Centre in West London.

Chief executive Micheal Byrne said that the performance of underlying businesses showed the operating profitability of the group in the future.

He commented: “As part of the recovery strategy, we strengthened our commercial procedures and established a dedicated team to manage out the legacy contracts within the Chorus business.

“Non-core businesses have been disposed of and the sale and lease back of our corporate headquarters was completed.

“These moves have given the group a strong base to move forward from, reducing debt and strengthening the balance sheet.”

He said that at the end of the year, Byrne Group had a net positive cash of £9.9 million, an increase of £14.3 million in the year.

Specialist concrete frame business, Byrne Bros increased sales by a quarter to £185 million achieving an operating margin of 3.2%.