Motorway projects and a strong performance in the UK brought profits at builder and civil engineer, SIAC Construction, to more than €12 million in 2003, the company announced yesterday.

SIAC, a private company, revealed that operating profits grew by 40 per cent in 2003 to €12.3 million from €8.8 million the previous year.

Stripping out the costs of discontinuing a UK business, that country delivered profits of €4.3 million, a 6 per cent increase on 2002.

The group said it generated substantial cash during the year, and balances stood at €11.5 million at December 31st. Net assets grew 14 per cent to €31.1 million.

Managing director, Mr Finn Lyden, said that State motorway projects were a key contributor to the results. During the year, SIAC led a consortium that began building the 35km Kilcock-Kinnegad motorway, the first public private partnership of its kind.

It also worked on a number of sections of the Dublin-Belfast motorway, including the Boyne and Boyne Bridge sections. In the UK, its operation has developed a patented factory cladding system that has cut costs and eliminated the need for on-site scaffolding, which is selling to large public finance initiative projects.

Commenting on the results, chairman, Mr Ciaran Feighery, said that the group's core business units had performed strongly.