Balfour Beatty profits more than double to £196m

Pre-tax profits came in at £117m, a massive jump from £10m in 2016 as the company provided some good news in a sector rocked by the collapse of sector peer Carillion in January.

The UK's biggest builder said average net cash was £42m against £46m net debt in 2016 with year end net cash at £335m from £173m a year earlier.

Underlying revenue was flat at £8.2bn and fell by 3% at constant exchange rates. Construction Services underlying revenue was up 2% at actual exchange rates to £6.6bn as growth in the US offset an expected decline in the UK.

Support Services underlying revenue declined 4% at £1.06bn as an increase in utilities was more than offset by lower transportation revenues, Balfour said.

The full year dividend was lifted to 3.6 pence a share, from 2016's 2.7 pence.

There was a £44m provision on the Aberdeen Western Peripheral route after Balfour had to take up the slack after Carillion's demise. The project also had "ongoing schedule and cost issues". Other write downs included £12m in restructuring costs.

Balfour said it was on track to achieve industry-standard margins in all of its earnings-based businesses in the second half of 2018 as it continued to complete historical contracts, cut costs and raise productivity across operations.

The company's order book fell 8% to £11.4bn as Balfour stuck to its selective bidding policy and did not yet include work won in two-stage design and build contracts, such as the £2.5bn deal with joint venture partner VINCI on the UK's new HS2 high speed railway.