黑洞社区

Costain has finally finished the last of the 46 facilities on the legacy Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority PFI contract, which it won in 2007.

The engineering firm announced the development in a trading update today, adding that all elements in the contract were now either fully completed or in the post-completion warranty period.

It said the December handover had resulted in contractual retention and milestone payments of 拢14 million.

In August Costain said it had withdrawn from the waste market after problems in Manchester led its natural resources division to report a 拢2.6m loss in the first half of 2014. The firm said there had been 鈥渄esign faults鈥� at four of the sites.

Two months later subcontractor TEG Group suspended trading in its shares amid a row with Costain over the retention of 拢2.8 million for its work on work on the project. Its board announced last month that the business was entering administration.

In today鈥檚 trading update, Costain reasserted that it was no-longer the group鈥檚 policy to pursue fixed-price contracts of the same nature as the Manchester Waste PFI.

Elsewhere, it said that the firm鈥檚 order book stood at a new 鈥渞ecord level鈥� of 拢3.5 billion at the end of December, up from 拢3 billion at the end of 2013.

Chief executive Andrew Wylie said the order book, coupled with a net cash position of over 拢140 million gave 鈥渃onfidence and visibility for the future鈥�.

Costain鈥檚 update also confirmed that the group had transferred the interest in its two remaining PFI investments, valued at 拢7.4 million, to the legacy Costain Pension Scheme in order to manage its obligations.