Balfour Beatty order book remains stable

A third quarter trading update from Balfour Beatty has confirmed the company’s overall order book remained on a par with its half-year position at £11.7 billion (€14.6 billion).

According to the UK firm, September’s third profit warning of the year had led to an expected annual profit shortfall of €95 million within its construction services business. But the company said its operations in America and the UK had improved its performance during the quarter.

Its new CEO Leo Quinn will join the company from January and it is presently recruiting for a chief finance officer.

Balfour’s latest trading update confirmed the disposal of its US subsidiary Parsons Brinckerhoff resulted in £753 million (€943 million) net gain to the company, with the move having been approved by 93% of its shareholders.

Level of year-to-date debt stood at £477 million (€597 million), which the firm expected would reduce to £400 million (€501 million) by the end of the year.

The company said, “The construction services order book increased to £7.9 billion (€9.9 billion), driven largely by an increase in the US, predominantly due to foreign exchange movements, and by contracts in the UK announced in the period.

"This growth was offset by an expected reduction in the support services order book to £3.7 billion (€4.6 billion), as we continued to complete on long term contracts in both the power and water sectors.”