Construction company Kier have issued a warning ahead of the publication of their full financial results, stating that its debt has increased by £50million.

In a surprise statement, released just two months after a half-yearly trading update, Kier said it had revised it's net debt from £130million to £180.5million.

In the statement released to the London Stock Exchange this morning, Kier said that they had "identified a number of adjustments" relating to the group's hedging activities.

That led to a aggregate increase in the debt figure of £10.3million while classification of debt associated with developments assets held for resale accounted for a further £40.2million.

Of that £40.2 million, £9.8million relates to assets which have been sold since January 1, £14.1 relates to sales which are subject to binding agreements and the balance of £16.3 is for assets which are being marketed for sale or already under offer.

Kier, who have a county base in Quedgeley, have been involved in a number of high-profile projects in Gloucester including the new Transport Hub and the refurbishment of the County Council Offices.

Earlier this year, the Construction Enquirer named Kier as one of it's top 100 contractors for the year, during which it won 22 major contracts worth in the region of £343 million.

But it has not all been plain sailing for the former FTSE 250 listed company.

Late in 2018 a rights issue aimed to raise funds to cut debt raised £250million but was considered a flop by industry experts as just 38 per cent of shareholders bought new stock.

Shares plummeted as a result and that led to the resignation of chief executive Haydn Mursell, which was confirmed by the company in January.

This morning's announcement led to a 12 per cent drop in the company's share price.