Kier Group first-half adj profit soars on May Gurney acquisition

Feb 27 (Reuters) - British construction and real estate company Kier Group Plc (LSE: KIE.L - news) reported a 90 percent jump in adjusted pretax profit for the first half, helped by its acquisition of road maintenance company May Gurney last year.

Adjusted underlying pretax profit for the July-December period rose to 36.8 million pounds ($61.2 million) from 19.4 million pounds a year earlier.

Total (NYSE: TOT - news) revenue rose 47 percent to 1.43 billion pounds. Services revenue was up 167 percent at 563 million pounds, of which May Gurney added 338 million pounds.

The group, whose activities range from building power stations to providing outsourcing for local councils, said the performance of the May Gurney business was in line with its expectations.

Kier also announced an interim dividend of 22.5 pence per share.