Balfour Beatty lifts guidance as HY profits surge

Construction firm Balfour Beatty upgraded full year guidance after interim profits more than doubled and new orders rose 10%.

The company posted a pre-tax profit of £83m, up from £35m a year earlier and now expects annual earnings to be ahead of previous expectations. Profit from operations rose to £82m from £40m.

An interim dividend of 3.5p a share was declared, up 17%.

Full year profit from investment disposals was now expected to be in the range of £55m - £65m, while annual average net cash was forecast to be £740m - £780m, which includes Balfour’s share buyback and further working capital outflows in the second half of the year.

Balfour Beatty said it continued to see inflationary pressures across its construction and infrastructure markets in labour and materials.

“Whilst the group is not immune to these pressures, Balfour Beatty is currently mitigating these risks through contractual protection and early buyout using the Group's scale and supply chain management and does not expect a material impact on the full year results,” the company said on Wednesday.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti at Sharecast.com