Sir David Murray enjoys reversal of fortunes with latest results buoyed by bus firm sale

Murray Capital Group has reported a £13.6 million pre-tax profit and a 54 per cent rise in the company’s value to £35m.

Former Rangers owner Sir David Murray’s family business empire posted record results for both its trading and investment businesses, according to the accounts posted at Companies House.

MCG’s results were boosted by the £11.8 million raised from the sale last year of its stake in the UK’s leading bus and coach manufacturer Falkirk-based Alexander Dennis, which was rescued in 2004 by a consortium including Sir David.

The sale helped lift pre-tax profit to £13.6m from the £48,000 posted in 2013.

Operating profit showed a sharp improvement at £2.6m, from the previous year’s loss of £151,000.

The group acquired its key assets between 2011 and 2013 from Sir David’s Murray International Holdings, which was wound up this year owing Lloyds Banking Group £200m after debt write-offs of £268m.

MCG now turns over £145m, up £3m from 2013, and just below the £170m turnover of MIH in 2012.

The business was 100 per cent owned by Sir David in 2014, but the accounts say that during the current year he has “gifted shares to close family members, however he still maintains a controlling interest”.

Sir David, who is 64 today, was unwilling to elaborate on his role in the business or any succession plans, leaving all comment to his son David D Murray, 42, who has been an executive director since MCG’s formation in 2010. Younger son Keith Murray, 39, joined the board last month.

A company source said Sir David was executive chairman and “still very much involved”.

According to reports, Mr Murray said the family was “very satisfied” with the firm’s latest figures, with a “substantial” rise in profit at Glenrothes-based copper cable manufacturer Brand Rex the main contributor to trading gains.

Sir David added: “It has been an active and successful year for us, especially with our estates business as we set about creating – and funding from our own financial resources – a substantial property portfolio for the future.”

Murray Estates holds, through several special-purpose vehicles, strategic land assets in central Scotland at various stages of planning for residential, mixed use and commercial development.

When the business was bought from MIH last year in an arm’s length £13.9m deal, Sir David said Lloyds had not advanced funding, but had insisted on an “anti-embarrassment clause” ensuring Lloyds will benefit from any future development value of the land portfolio.

“We have continued to invest heavily in our key strategic sites,” Mr Murray said, “recognising the need for both infrastructure and urbanisation linked to technology, and we are confident of realising their full potential value.”

Murray Estates recently submitted a planning application for 1,500 homes in the northern part of its site in the 675-acre Edinburgh Garden District, close to the city bypass and Gogarburn.

“This could play an important part in helping the city of Edinburgh meet housing need,” Mr Murray said. “The entire site could accommodate 6,000 new homes and we remain committed to this opportunity for the long term.”

The group did a land-for-infrastructure deal with Taylor Wimpey a year ago to self-fund 222 houses on its 300-acre Torrance Park site in North Lanarkshire.

Its 135-acre Kingdom Park site has planning permission for a £500m residential district over 20 years.

MCG’s biggest holdings are Murray Metals, acquired from MIH in 2012, Brand Rex and IT group Capito.

Last year the group paid £1.69m for Alphastrut, a Lanarkshire-based oil and gas support system business.

It said at the time the group had “intellectual property offering a wide range of benefits to the industry”.

It also brought Livingston-based Wine Importers, a leading distributor in Scotland, from private family ownership into MCG.

The group headcount rose from 599 to 621, and the directors’ remuneration bill from £508,000 to £587,000, with the highest-paid director’s pay falling from £271,000 to £239,000.

Net debt rose from £14m to £15m, though bank debt fell from £10.8m to £10.2m.

Mr Murray concluded: “The first half of the current year has been positive also and we continue to look to the future with confidence and optimism.”