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Balfour Beatty boss Leo Quinn has warned it could be another year before normality returns to the industry because of the covid-19 pandemic.

The country鈥檚 biggest contractor turned in a pre-tax loss for the first time in four years yesterday when it slipped to a 拢26m loss in the six months to June 鈥� the first time it has been in the red since racking up a 拢21m loss in its 2016 interim results.

Quinn (pictured) has masterminded an ongoing recovery at the firm since taking over at the beginning of 2015, having announced a 拢304m pre-tax loss for 2014 at his first results presentation three months later.

But yesterday the firm unveiled the scale of the hit the virus has had on its numbers, turning an underlying 拢17m operating profit at its UK construction business for its 2019 half year into a 拢23m loss a year later 鈥� a swing of 拢40m.

鈥淐ovid has been very expensive for the industry,鈥� Quinn admitted. 鈥淪ocial distancing has had a massive impact on productivity and we鈥檝e had the incremental cost of PPE.鈥�

And he warned: 鈥淐ovid is not over. We don鈥檛 know what the next six to 12 months will bring. Now is a good time to have cash. It鈥檚 important to have a strong balance sheet that will steer us well for the future.鈥�

The firm had more than 拢500m cash in the bank at the half year and is predicting its full year 2020 average net cash to be in the range of 拢430m to 拢460m.

More than a quarter of its UK sites shut during April with those in Scotland and London especially affected but this rose to 96% of sites open by the end of June

Quinn, who said the firm had not been hit by any materials shortages during the crisis, added: 鈥淭he number one priority was keeping sites open and maintaining liquidity.鈥�

He said the firm was seeing some rivals dropping prices to win jobs but said Balfour Beatty was not about to undo all the work it had undertaken in the past five years to repair its balance sheet.

鈥淲e will not take contracts on at any price,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e won鈥檛 revert to the terms and conditions we accepted in 2013/14. We are not interested in volume.鈥�

He said the firm 鈥渨ent to war鈥� in terms of paying suppliers on time during the crisis. 鈥淎s soon as we get it [cash], we want to get it out because we want to make sure that we keep the [subcontracting] capability in place.鈥�

But he declined to say whether the firm would follow the example of Morgan Sindall and pay back the money it has been paid by the government鈥檚 furlough scheme 鈥� around 拢15m.

The firm furloughed around 3,000 people, with Quinn calling the initiative 鈥渋nspirational鈥� and adding: 鈥淎ll the money we鈥檝e received, we鈥檝e used appropriately to protect jobs and that was the purpose of the scheme.鈥�

He added the government had been 鈥渆xemplary鈥� with its help during the crisis but admitted some private sector clients had not followed government鈥檚 lead.

The firm gave no guidance on what full year revenue for this year would be but said turnover in 2021 would be lower than the 拢8.4bn it posted in 2019. But it expects margins next year to improve on 2019鈥檚 numbers where its operating margins at its UK and US construction businesses 鈥� which account for more than 80% of group revenue 鈥� stood at 2.1% and 1.4% respectively.