The residential and construction business said it had delivered “a 23rd consecutive year of profitable trading with a robust financial performance” in the year to 31 March 2022 despite a “challenging operating environment and economic uncertainty”.

Cruden, founded in 1943, builds nearly one in 15 of every home built in Scotland. The company says it has benefited from the consistent high demand for new build housing, for private sale, from housing associations and local authorities, and from build-to-rent clients.

The group’s construction arm, Cruden Building, was recently appointed to three separate multi-million-pound public sector procurement frameworks to address local housing challenges across Scotland.

Its housebuilding arm, Cruden Homes, saw the number of private housing sales rise to 174 homes (from 159 the previous year). The company also benefited from a 40% increase in average sales value to £314,000 (from £225,000 in the previous year), due to the mix of units settling, including a number of luxury housing developments.

The group maintains net assets of £50.4m and held significant cash reserves of £51m at year end.

Kevin Reid, chief executive of the Cruden Group, said: “The business and our employees have shown great resilience and adaptability in a dynamic and changing marketplace and we have made good progress this year to deliver an improved set of financial results.

“We have secured a solid forward order book, with public sector clients, and have the capacity to expand our house building activities as market conditions allow. Our ability to secure land, fund developments and deliver large construction projects, continues to set us apart from many of our competitors.

“We have to recognise the challenges posed by ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty, but we remain optimistic about our future and anticipate that we can maintain activity levels in the period to March 2023.

“The strength of the Group’s balance sheet also enables us to navigate the challenging business environment currently presenting and look forward with confidence to the years ahead as fresh opportunities arise.”