Hercules PLC (LSE:HERC) chief financial officer, Paul Wheatcroft, talked with Proactive about the company's strong financial performance and expectations for continued growth in financial year 2026. Wheatcroft noted that Hercules expects to report record revenue of over £118 million for FY25, marking a 16% increase year-on-year. This growth, he explained, is driven by robust demand across the UK infrastructure sector, supported by a £750 billion government commitment over the next decade.
A key part of the company’s expansion has been its acquisition of Advantage NRG, a strategic move that marks Hercules’ entry into the power and energy sector. "We acquired Advantage NRG, which supplies overhead linemen for electrical transmission projects," said Wheatcroft, pointing to National Grid’s £58 billion investment as a major opportunity.
Wheatcroft also highlighted progress in other areas, including labour supply for the Sizewell C nuclear project and new contracts across the UK water sector. He emphasised that Hercules is well-positioned to benefit from over £104 billion in investment expected from water utility companies between 2025 and 2030.
Additionally, he discussed the company’s training arm, Hercules Academy, which has trained over 1,850 individuals since January 2024. Its expansion helps address the UK’s construction skills shortage and supports operational strategy.
Proactive: Paul, very good to speak with you. Hercules expects to report another record year. What are the main drivers behind the strong trading performance?
Paul Wheatcroft: Our record performance is underpinned by robust demand across UK infrastructure, with revenue expected to exceed £118 million for the financial year ending September 25th, which is a 16% increase on last year. We have strong support from the UK government. And the country's infrastructure sector is buoyant, with £750 billion committed across numerous sectors. And of course, these sectors are where Hercules has a strong and growing presence. During the period we strengthened our position through acquisitions, including our largest transaction to date, Advantage NRG, which marked our entry into the power and energy sector.
Proactive: You mentioned Advantage NRG. What does that mean for the business, Paul?
Paul Wheatcroft: Yes. Really important. The UK is embarking on a major upgrade of its electrical infrastructure to meet rising energy demand. National Grid's proposals include £58 billion worth of investment focused on extending and modernising the country's transmission and distribution networks to deliver sustainable and reliable power across the UK. So to capitalise on this, we acquired Advantage NRG, which supplies overhead linesmen for the construction and maintenance of overhead electrical transmission lines. We expect demand for skilled operators, particularly overhead linesmen, to increase quite substantially.
Proactive: Paul, outside of energy, are there any particular infrastructure projects or sectors that you think will be growth drivers?
Paul Wheatcroft: Yeah, I mean, we're already supplying labour to the early works phase of Sizewell C, which is—as most people would know—a huge project. And we’ve established a regional office to support long-term delivery in the water sector. We've recently announced we’ve secured new contracts worth around £6.5 million, and are active across all the major UK water regions. The UK water sector is undergoing a significant period of investment and transformation. And Hercules is one of the nation's biggest companies for labour supply and civil projects in the water sector. Water utility companies are expected to invest more than £104 billion during the current asset management period, which started in April 2025 and runs for five years. Our client relationships mean that we're very well placed to benefit, as investment ramps up across nuclear, water and other infrastructure sectors.
Proactive: Paul, the trading update mentioned the expansion of Hercules Academy. How does this support your operational strategy?
Paul Wheatcroft: It’s very, very important. The Hercules Academy, which we launched in January 2024, so far has trained over 1,850 individuals, and is helping to address the UK’s construction skills shortage. The acquisition of Quality Transport Training (QTT) has expanded our curriculum and training capacity. The integration of Advantage NRG has opened up new cross-sector training opportunities. This investment we’ve made ensures we have a job-ready workforce to support our clients, and allows us to upskill our workers to take on work that ultimately improves our margin.
Proactive: Paul, the outlook for full year 2026—and is there anything you can say about the dividend?
Paul Wheatcroft: Yeah. The outlook for financial year 2026 remains very positive, with the £750 billion I referred to earlier committed to UK infrastructure over the next decade. We expect continued momentum in the year ahead. Obviously, as usual with us, the performance is typically weighted to the second half due to seasonality. I can’t really comment specifically on the full-year dividend. For the half-year, we paid an interim dividend of 0.6p, consistent with prior years, and we typically also pay a final dividend. One thing worth adding is that the dividend yield currently is 5%, which is pretty good.
Proactive: Paul, I hope you'll continue to keep us updated with your progress. Thank you very much for the update today.