Balfour Beatty, the troubled construction firm, is well on its way to recovery after posting positive half-year results.
The firm said it has been more selective in its approach to bidding for contracts, with order books down six per cent to £11.4 billion.
However, Profitability increased across all of its businesses, reporting its first profit for the start of a year since 2014. Its half-year profit rose to £12 million, compared to a £15 million loss in the same period the year before.
Balfour said it would now begin phase two of its turnaround programme, expected to last a further two years and would return margins to the industry standard.
Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty chief executive, said: “These results demonstrate the transformation being driven by focusing Balfour Beatty relentlessly on its chosen markets and capabilities.
“Under stronger leadership and much improved bidding disciplines, the businesses are booking new orders at improved margins and reduced risk. Our infrastructure pipeline in the US and UK remains buoyant and the group continues to win landmark contracts such as the Dallas Southern Gateway and HS2.”
Earlier this month, the firm announced it had secured £4.2 billion of HS2 contracts.
The firm also won the race to build a £295 million high-rise residential scheme in Hong Kong, as well as replacing Costain as chief developer of Hinkley Point’s tunnel system.
