Highlights
Revenue growth of 16 per cent
Headline total operating profit up 12 per cent
Headline earnings per share increased 10 per cent to 30.3p
Future Workload up 11 per cent to £8.3 billion (HY 2014: £7.5 billion)
£2.0 billion of new business won in the period
Key contract wins with both new and existing clients including London Underground, MTR Crossrail, KeolisAmey Docklands, B&Q, BS Stanford, BP Khazzan (Oman), RasGas (Qatar) and the Dubai Aviation City Corporation (UAE).
Dividend payment increased by 5 per cent to 7.9p
Chief Executive Adrian Ringrose commented:
"We have made good progress in the first half of the year in markets that offer both opportunities and challenges. We have delivered volume growth across the board, and strong profit performances in our Support Services, Equipment Services and International Construction businesses.
Market conditions in UK Construction have remained challenging although demand continues to strengthen and the expanded future workload is encouraging.
Our focus on providing high quality services for both new and existing clients resulted in strong work winning during the period, with our future workload rising 11 per cent over the 12 months to June to stand at a record £8.3 billion.
We expect the premium to the National Minimum Wage announced in the recent Budget to have an initial adverse impact on margins in the UK Support Services segment of £10-15 million in 2016, receding over the next few years thereafter as the change is priced in to relevant contracts.
However, demand in our main markets continues to strengthen, our financial position remains strong which, together with our growing future workload, underpins the Board's confidence in our positive outlook and the increase in the interim dividend to 7.9 pence."
