21. Financial instruments

Capital risk management

The Group manages its capital to ensure that entities in the Group will be able to continue as a going concern while optimising the return to stakeholders. The capital structure of the Group consists of debt, which includes borrowings, cash and cash equivalents and equity attributable to equity holders of the parent, comprising issued capital, reserves and retained earnings.

The Group monitors capital using the following indicators:

i) Gearing ratio

Equity includes all capital and reserves of the Group attributable to equity holders of the parent. There are no externally imposed capital requirements.

The Group excludes IFRS 16 lease liabilities from its measure of net funds/(debt) as they are excluded from the definition of net funds/(debt) as set out in the Group's borrowing facilities.

ii) Return on capital employed

Underlying operating profit divided by the average of opening and closing capital employed. Capital employed is defined as shareholders' equity after adding back retirement benefit obligations (net of tax), acquired intangible assets and net (debt)/funds.

Categories of financial instruments

The Group's financial instruments consist of borrowings, cash, unamortised debt arrangement fees, items that arise directly from its operations and derivative financial instruments. Cash and cash equivalents, trade and other receivables and trade and other payables generally have short terms to maturity. For this reason, their carrying values approximate to fair value. The Group's borrowings relate principally to amounts drawn down against its revolving credit facility, the carrying amounts of which approximate to their fair values by virtue of being floating rate instruments.

The Group is required to analyse financial instruments that are measured subsequent to initial recognition at fair value, grouped into levels 1 to 3 based on the degree to which the fair value is observable:

Level 1 fair value measurements are those derived from quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities;

Level 2 fair value measurements are those derived from inputs other than quoted prices included within level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly (i.e. as prices) or indirectly (i.e. derived from prices); and

Level 3 fair value measurements are those derived from valuation techniques that include inputs for the asset or liability that are not based on observable market data (unobservable inputs).

Derivative financial instruments are the only instruments valued at fair value through profit or loss, and are valued as such on initial recognition. These relate to foreign currency forward contracts measured using quoted forward exchange rates and yield curves matching the maturities of the contracts. These derivative financial instruments are categorised as level 2 financial instruments. Except for derivative financial instruments, the carrying amounts of financial assets and financial liabilities are recorded at amortised cost in the consolidated financial statements.

General risk management principles

The board has overall responsibility for the establishment and oversight of the Group's risk management framework. A formal risk assessment and management framework for assessing, monitoring and managing the strategic, operational and financial risks of the Group is in place to ensure appropriate risk management of its operations. Internal control and risk management systems are embedded in the operations of the divisions.

Financial risks and management

The Group has exposure to a variety of financial risks through the conduct of its operations. Risk management is governed by the Group's operational policies, which are subject to periodic review by the board of directors.

Credit risk

The Group's primary exposure to credit risk arises from the potential for non-payment or default from construction contract customers, encompassing both trade receivables and contract assets. The degree to which the Group is exposed to this credit risk depends on the individual characteristics of the contract counterparty and the nature of the project. The Group's credit risk is also influenced by the general macroeconomic conditions. The Group does not have significant concentration of risk in respect of amounts due from construction contract customers at the reporting date due to the amount being spread across a wide range of customers. Due to the nature of the Group's operations, it is normal practice for customers to hold retentions in respect of contracts completed. Retentions held by customers at 25 March 2023 were £7,146,000 (2022: £11,236,000).

The Group manages its exposure to credit risk through the application of its credit risk management policies which specify the minimum requirements in respect of the creditworthiness of potential customers, assessed through reports from credit agencies, and the timing and extent of progress payments in respect of contracts. In addition, before accepting any new customer, adequate credit insurance is taken out as reported in note 18. Where credit insurance is difficult to acquire, the executive risk committee determines the appropriate exposure for the Group to take with a customer by typically structuring contracts to require payments on account or limit the amounts that the Group is outstanding at any one time.

Consideration of potential future events is taken into account when deciding when, and how much, to impair the Group's contract assets and trade receivables. The Group does not expect to report credit losses which would materially impact the income statement. In recent reporting periods credit losses in the income statement have been immaterial. In addition, the Group has credit insurance for the majority of the Group's debt portfolio.

The Group manages the collection of retentions through its post-completion project monitoring procedures and ongoing contact with customers so as to ensure that potential issues that could lead to the non-payment of retentions are addressed as soon as they are identified.

Amounts outstanding from construction contract customers are due with reference to the payment terms for each particular contract but the majority would be receivable within four months from the end of the reporting period. Amounts due for settlement after 12 months are disclosed in note 18.

Liquidity risk

Liquidity risk is the risk that the Group will not be able to meet its financial obligations as and when they fall due. The ultimate responsibility for liquidity risk rests with the board.

The Group generates cash through its operations and aims to manage liquidity by ensuring that it will always have sufficient financing facilities to meet its liabilities when due, under both normal and stress conditions, without incurring unacceptable losses or risking damage to the Group's reputation. Forecast and actual cash flow is continuously monitored.

On 1 December 2021, the Group completed a refinancing of its revolving credit facility ('RCF') with HSBC Bank PLC and Virgin Money (formerly Yorkshire Bank). In March 2023 the Group increased the existing facility to £60m. The extended facility provides additional liquidity following the VSCH' acquisition and to support the continued growth strategy of the Group. The RCF remains subject to three financial covenants, namely interest cover, net debt to EBITDA and debt service (cash flow) cover. The Group operated well within these covenant limits throughout the year ended 25 March 2023.

As at 25 March 2023, £60,000,000 (2022: £43,987,000) of this facility was not drawn but available. Up to £15,000,000 of this facility is available by way of an overdraft (2022: £15,000,000).

In accordance with IFRS 7, the following tables detail the Group's remaining contractual maturity for its financial liabilities at the reporting date. The amounts are gross, undiscounted and include contractual interest payments.

Reconciliation of movements of liabilities to cash flows arising from financing activities

Market risk

The Group's activities expose it primarily to the market risks of foreign currency exchange rates and interest rates. The Group has entered into certain derivative financial instruments to manage its exposure to foreign currency risk.

Market risk exposures are monitored and are supplemented by sensitivity analysis. There has been no change to the Group's exposure to market risks or the manner in which it manages and measures the risk.

Foreign currency risk management

The Group undertakes certain transactions denominated in foreign currencies. Hence, exposures to exchange rate fluctuations arise. Exchange rate exposures are managed within approved policy parameters utilising forward foreign exchange contracts.

The Group seeks to minimise the effects of currency risks by using derivative financial instruments when appropriate to hedge these risk exposures against contracted sales. The use of financial derivatives is governed by the Group's policies approved by the board of directors. The Group does not enter into, or trade, financial instruments, including derivative financial instruments for speculative purposes.

The carrying value of the Group's foreign currency denominated monetary assets and monetary liabilities at the reporting date are as follows:

Foreign currency sensitivity analysis

The Group only has material exposure to Euro and USD denominated financial assets and liabilities.

The following table details the Group's sensitivity to a 10 per cent increase and decrease in sterling against the relevant foreign currencies. Ten per cent is the sensitivity rate used when reporting foreign currency risk internally to key management personnel and represents management's assessment of the reasonably possible change in foreign exchange rates. The sensitivity analysis includes only outstanding foreign currency denominated monetary items and derivative financial instruments and adjusts their translation at the year-end for a 10 per cent change in foreign currency rates. A positive number below indicates an increase in profit and other equity where sterling strengthens 10 per cent against the relevant currency. For a 10 per cent weakening of sterling against the relevant currency, there would be an equal and opposite impact on the profit and other equity, and the balances below would be negative.

At present, the Group's translation exposure to the Indian rupee via its Indian joint venture is not significant. As the business grows, this exposure is expected to become more significant.

Forward foreign exchange contracts

It is the Group's policy to enter into forward foreign exchange contracts to cover future euro and US dollar currency receipts on relevant contracts.

The Group uses forward foreign currency contracts to hedge currency risk associated with expected future sales or purchases for which the Group has firm commitments. The terms of the forward foreign currency contracts are negotiated to match the terms of the commitments. During the year, the Group has applied cash flow hedge accounting to these forward foreign currency transactions. As at 25 March 2023, derivatives designated as cash flow hedges were an asset of £25,000 (2022: £670,000) and recognised total losses of £904,000 (2022: losses of £9,000) in equity and gains of £256,000 (2022: losses of £370,000) in profit and loss in the year.

At 25 March 2023, the Group had forward exchange contracts of 5.7m Euros (2022: 24.0m Euros) at an average exchange rate of €1.13/£ (2022: €1.08/£) which mature within 12 months of the year end. In addition, the Group had forward exchange contracts of nil CHF (2022: 6.4m) at an average exchange rate of N/A (2022: 1.03/£) which mature within 12 months of the year end.

Interest rate risk management

The Group is exposed to interest rate risk as described under the market risk paragraph earlier in this note. The Group does not currently hedge any of its interest rate exposure.

Interest rate sensitivity analysis

The sensitivity analysis below has been determined based on the exposure to interest rates at the balance sheet date. For floating rate liabilities, the analysis is prepared assuming the gross amount of liability outstanding at balance sheet date was outstanding for the whole period. A 0.5 per cent increase or decrease is used when reporting interest rate risk internally to key management personnel and represents management's assessment of the reasonably possible change in interest rates.

If interest rates had been 0.5 per cent higher and all other variables were held constant, the Group's profit for the year ended 25 March 2023 and the Group's equity at that date would decrease by £173,000 (2022: £74,000). If the £60,000,000 facility is fully utilised the exposure increases by £300,000. This is attributable to the Group's exposure to interest rates on its variable rate borrowings.