Balfour Beatty PLC made a pre-tax loss of £26m for the half year ending 26 June, which it blamed mainly on the impact of COVID-19.
Revenue for the period was £4.1bn, compared to £3.9bn during the equivalent period a year ago.
The firm’s order book stood at £17.5bn, up from £14.3bn in 2019. It attributed the increase to the addition of over £3bn of contracts following the HS2 Notice to Proceed being issued by the Government in April.
Balfour Beatty, in joint venture with VINCI, will deliver the main civils works south of Birmingham and the London hub station at Old Oak Common
The firms said that over the last two years its order book has grown substantially, driven by public sector infrastructure projects
Group chief executive Leo Quinn said: ‘Since the COVID-19 crisis broke, our mission has been to safely manage through it while protecting the Group’s strengths. That meant balancing the needs of all our stakeholders.
‘We have kept sites open wherever safe to do so, prioritised supply chain payments and supported staff. Our people’s response has been outstanding, working tirelessly whatever the challenge, to enable Balfour Beatty to provide the daily infrastructure relied on by the public.’
He added: ‘The financial impacts of COVID-19 are unavoidable; but they will pass. We look forward with confidence to returning to profitable managed growth, and to delivering ongoing value for all our stakeholders.’
The firm’s UK construction business lost £23m during the period. In a statement, the company said that site closures, combined with a reduction in productivity and the cost of implementing new operating procedures had led to a material reduction in margin.
‘In addition, COVID-19 has led to lengthened site programmes triggering a reassessment of the Group’s contract end forecast positions which has also contributed to the decrease in margins in the half year.’
