Balfour Beatty eyes positive cash balance

In a short trading statement short on finer details, infrastructure construction group Balfour Beatty said it expected to finish the year with a positive cash balance as it completes the first phase of chief executive Leo Quinn's two-year turnaround process.

By its January year end, the FTSE 250 group said it would complete the target of bringing £200m cash in and taking £100m of costs out, while managing the process of unprofitable legacy contracts was "proceeding to timetable".

Quinn's 'Build to Last' transformation programme has simplified the business and strengthened the leadership team, with better governance and processes.

Though no further financial detail was given, Balfour Beatty said its order book remained stable during the second half of 2016.

"The actions that we have taken during the first two years of Build to Last have been necessary to lay a solid foundation for long term profitable growth," said Quinn.

He added that he was confident the next 24 months of Build to Last "will see the group achieving industry-standard margins".