Britain鈥檚 biggest contractor to focus on global infrastructure markets as it reveals 20% increase in profit

Balfour Beatty鈥檚 revenue have hit 拢9bn after it grew by 3% in 2010.

In full year results to 31 December, the country鈥檚 biggest contractor announced that pre-tax profits rose by a fifth, from 拢265m to  拢319m.

Yet after exceptional items and amortisation, profits were actually down by nearly 30%, to 拢187m.

The biggest cost was 拢31m for the 鈥渁cquisition, integration, reorganisation and other costs鈥� of consultancy Parsons Brinckerhoff, which Balfour Beatty said it had now successfully integrated.

In its outlook, Balfour said it was targeting the global infrastructure market: 鈥淥ver the medium and long term, we expect global infrastructure to be a growth market.鈥�

鈥淲e have put in place a clear strategy, and the Group is well-placed to benefit from the growth in this market based on our depth of infrastructure knowledge, breadth of capability and the strength of our balance sheet,鈥� it said.

The dividend per share grew slightly to12.7p from 12.0p in 2009. Balfour鈥檚 order book was up 8% at 拢15.2bn.

The contract also revealed it had paid 拢5m for contracts picked up from collapsed contractor Rok, which failed last October.

Topics