International infrastructure group Balfour Beatty has said it is ‘on track to deliver a 2021 performance in line with pre-pandemic levels’.
The group has published a trading update covering the period to 8 December, stating that its board continues to expect the earnings-based businesses (Construction Services and Support Services) will deliver underlying profit from operations for 2021 in line with the 2019 figure of £172m.
The Bean Lane bridge in Kent was delivered by Balfour four months ahead of schedule
Its year-end order book is expected to be around £15.5bn, slightly down on the half-year figure of £16.1bn and last year’s £16.4bn, ‘as the Group continues to win work on projects at the right terms and conditions across its portfolio’.
Full-year group revenue is expected to be ‘approximately double’ the half-year revenue of £4.2bn and therefore similar to last year’s £8.6bn.
Group chief executive Leo Quinn said: ‘The Group is on track to deliver a 2021 performance in line with pre-pandemic levels.
‘Looking to 2022, the Group has a high-quality order book. We are strongly positioned in three geographies where fiscal expansion, green infrastructure growth and, in the US, public private partnerships all play to our unique engineering capability. We remain confident of capitalising on these factors to drive superior returns.’
The group said that its UK Construction arm this month saw the Balfour Beatty VINCI joint venture launch its first tunnel boring machine for HS2 at Long Itchington Wood.
It added that ‘following the increase in the margin target range from 3-5% to 6-8% in August, Support Services has maintained its strong performance into the second half of the year as the Group’s power, road and rail maintenance business units continue to meet expectations’.
The group said it continues to manage inflationary pressures across its portfolio.
