Balfour Beatty books rise in orders to £14.6bn

Building giant Balfour Beatty shrugged off sliding construction revenues yesterday as orders rose to £14.6 billion in the first half of 2010.

Its main construction arm saw sales slide 13 per cent to 3.3bn, including a 9 per cent decline in the UK after it completed several major hospital projects and saw a slowdown in regional building work.

The firm also reported revenue falls in the US and Dubai but boasted a 500 million rise in its order book so far this year and is pursuing a "number of opportunities" in the second half.

Balfour added that a tight clampdown on costs helped underlying pre-tax profits across the group jump 32 per cent to 141m during the period, ahead of City forecasts. It believes that the broad scope of the business - with around half of its revenues being generated away from the UK - will give it "strength and resilience" to cope with problems in individual markets.

The firm said it is making "good progress" on several UK civil engineering projects, including the widening of the M25 and the A3 Hindhead improvement scheme in Surrey.

The company is also working on several projects for the London 2012 Olympic Park, including the aquatic centre.

Balfour Beatty spent 380m on major project manager Parsons Brinckerhoff in October last year to make further inroads into the US and boost its position in transport and power markets. Shares were down 3.8p at 259.1p.