Shares in Costain Group PLC (LSE:COST) climbed 7% to above 114p for the first time in five years after the infrastructure construction group doubled its dividend to celebrate an increase in profits last year.
Profit before tax rose 10% to £48.5 million, due largely to higher interest income, as revenue shrank 6% to £1.25 billion.
Cash of £159 million was in line with guidance, allowing the dividend to be doubled to 2.4p.
The forward work position increased to £5.4 billion from £3.9 billion.
CEO Alex Vaughan hailed "another good year" as operating profit and earnings per share increased further, what he said was "building on our strong financial performance track record of the past three years".
With adjusted operating margin increasing by more than the target for 2024, above 4.4% in the second half of the year, he said Costain was "on track" to deliver the 4.5% target for 2025.
"The record growth in forward work position is expected to deliver further progress in FY 25 and FY 26, followed by a step change in FY 27 performance."
Costain said it had secured approximately 80% of its forecast revenue for 2025 and current levels of bidding activity "remain high".
Broker Peel Hunt said it has more confidence in the second-stage run-rate margin target of 4.5% during the second half of the year, so is forecasting PBT of £51.5 million for the current year.