Hercules plc AIM:HERC
- Incorporated
- United Kingdom
- Chief executive
- Brusk Korkmaz
- Employees
- 1,165
- Reports in
- GBP
- Companies House
- 06607001
Read straight from the annual reports
35.5p at close on 8 Oct 2026 · 6 reported years, 2020–2025
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GBP millions, negatives in brackets. Per-share lines in pence, share counts in millions. later is what a following report restated the figure to; vs is a second reading that disagrees. The figure shown is the one the original filing printed, and both readings are kept. Click any figure: opens the report page it was read from, highlighted; shows how it was calculated. The share price above is drawn to the same columns: each close sits over the financial year it fell in.
6 years, at a glance
Dashed: Operating margin, in % on its own scale — read its shape, not its height against the bars.
Hercules, a UK group that supplies construction workers and does water-sector civil engineering, grew revenue to £121.2m from £101.9m, helped by more labour supply work and the purchase of power-network specialist Advantage NRG. But profit before tax fell to £852k from £2.2m, and after tax it made a small loss of £67k, smaller than the year before. Costs rose faster than sales: higher employer National Insurance, pressure on labour supply margins, acquisition costs, an IT systems upgrade and a write-down in the value of an earlier purchase all weighed on profit. Acquisitions were partly paid for with a loan from a company owned by one of its directors. The year ended with £7.2m in cash, £12.1m of borrowings and £2.0m raised from shareholders, and there will be no final dividend. Management sees large, lasting opportunities but reports significant delays to several key projects in the first half of the new year. The auditor did not give the accounts a clean sign-off: it could not confirm that some payments to training and consultancy suppliers were legitimate, because the board stopped further investigation before the accounts were signed off.
Labour Supply division (largest segment)
Revenue £106,936k in FY2025 vs £84,125k in FY2024; described as the Group's largest revenue contributor and central to the delivery model
page 9Civil Projects (water sector, Tier 1 clients)
Revenue £13,554k FY2025 vs £17,535k FY2024; work predominantly in the water sector as AMP8 spend ramps from design to on-site activity
page 9Gross margin improvement
Gross profit % increased from 14.7% to 15.0% on continuing operations
page 9Increase in employers' National Insurance contributions (April 2025)
Reduced FY2025 profits by c.£0.6m, with a further £0.6m reduction expected in FY2026 (total £1.2m annualised impact)
page 10We enter FY2026 with a broader capability set, a strengthened market position and a solid platform for continued growth; in H1 FY2026 there have been significant delays in the commencement of a number of key projects, but the market opportunities ahead are both substantial and durable.
page 7Hercules PLC acquired 70% of Lyons Power Services Ltd in October 2025 for £351k cash, in a partnership arrangement similar to that with Future Build Recruitment Ltd, to enter the electrical commissioning market
page 84No final dividend will be paid in respect of FY2025 (FY2024: 1.12p) due to continuing acquisition activity and investment in systems; the Board will keep the Company's dividend policy under review. An interim dividend of 0.06p per share (£477,718) was paid in FY2025 in respect of the year, and a final dividend of 1.12p (£891,740) relating to FY2024 was paid in March 2025.
page 6Auditor (S&W Audit) issued a QUALIFIED opinion. Basis: during the audit, concerns were raised about payments to a limited number of training and consultancy providers; management's investigation (with forensic accountants and lawyers) could not fully reconcile supporting evidence for a limited amount of expenditure, and the Board prevented further investigative work being completed before sign-off, so auditors were unable to confirm supplier onboarding, bona fide status, or legitimacy of related training/consultancy expenditure. This is considered material to the Group financial statements; auditors concluded they could not determine whether adjustments to the financial statements or strategic report were required. Despite this, the auditors concluded the going-concern basis of preparation is appropriate (core forecast to September 2027, £16m IGF working capital facility, cash £7.2m at year end).
page 49- Market downturn and cyclical nature of construction industry, including inflation, interest rates, credit availability and reliance on government-funded infrastructure spendp.15
- Work winning — failure to continue to win and retain contracts on satisfactory terms, or to cross-sell across divisionsp.15
- Concentration of key clients, including reliance on continued trading of major customers and strong client negotiating positionsp.15
- Health & Safety failure, given significant construction-industry H&S risks including potential for fatality or serious injuryp.16
Read from C000620-AR-2025-ch.
5 annual reports read, FY2021 to FY2025
Open a year to see what its report said. Every line in it carries the page it was read from.
Sources: Companies House (5)
FY2026Next report expected 20 Jan 2027