Balfour Beatty bullish on full year order book growth
Balfour Beatty was bullish in its predictions for year-end results this morning, as it expects its order book to be significantly bigger than 2018, while profit will likely be flat.
Britain’s biggest construction company, which has a significant presence in Hong Kong, said it had not seen any negative effects from civil unrest in the region, while its UK and US arms are on course to hit “industry standard” margins.
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Balfour’s order book at the end of the financial year will be well above £14bn, it said, after £12.6bn last year.
This does not include work on the HS2 high speed rail project, which is yet to be officially signed off by the UK government.
Profit is expected to be “broadly in line” with last year’s figure of £205m, while revenue is on course to be about five per cent higher than £7.8bn in 2018.
Balfour expects to see growing profit from its Hong Kong venture, Gammon, while margins at its UK construction business are expected to be between two and three per cent.
Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty group chief executive, said: “We expect to deliver another year of profitable managed growth in 2019.
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The growing order book and strong balance sheet demonstrate our progress in positioning the group well to deliver increased value to shareholders.”
“Despite short term political uncertainties, the long term trading environment for Balfour Beatty’s construction services and support services markets and capabilities remains favourable, and the infrastructure investments market allows the group to maximise value as and when opportunities arise,” the company said in a statement.