UK housebuilder Balfour Beatty has seen profits quadruple in the first half of the year, with cost-cutting and divestment gains giving the construction giant a boost.
The group behind the Crossrail project said pre-tax profits grew from £12 million to £50 million in the six months to the end of June as it hailed its “Build to Last” transformation programme.
Balfour reaped £22 million from disposals, and its US construction arm reported a profit from operations of £17 million.
The group also flagged “reducing costs and raising productivity across its operations” as being behind the strong performance.
It came as revenue dipped from £3.5 billion to £3.2 billion in the period and the firm also stomached a £44 million hit from the collapse of Carillion.
The charge is linked to the delayed Aberdeen Western Peripheral Route (AWPR) - a joint venture with Balfour, Carillion and Galliford Try.
Boss Leo Quinn said: “All our businesses are now either achieving industry standard margins or on track to do so in the second half.
“The disciplines installed under Build to Last are also enabling us to increase the order book with key infrastructure projects to translate Balfour Beatty’s expert capabilities into future profitable growth.”
Mr Quinn is leading an overhaul of the company.
Underlying profit from operations rose to £66 million from £39 million, while Balfour’s order book increased to from £11.4 billion to £12.6 billion.
“Given the strength of our balance sheet and the board’s confidence that the group’s full-year earnings will meet expectations, we are raising the interim dividend by 33 per cent and plan to repay the outstanding convertible bonds this year,” Mr Quinn added. – PA
