Costain Group Plc (LON:COST) boasted of a strong performance as it releasing interim results, for the six months to June 30, telling investors that it is on course to deliver the full year in line with expectations.
Significantly, it has today announced an 8% increase in its interim dividend to 5.15p from 4.75p in 2017.
The infrastructure group reported £758.7mln of revenue, which was actually down against the 2017 comparative of £847.8mln, whereas interim pretax profit came in at £19.5mln versus £15.7mln for the first half of last year. Reported earnings per share amounted to 15.1p, up from 12.2p.
READ: Costain on the road to meeting full-year expectations
It highlighted what’s described as a “higher quality” order book, standing at £3.7bn, comprising some 90% of repeat business whilst some £1.4bn of future revenue is already secured for the full year.
"We delivered another good performance in the first half of the year,” said Andrew Wyllie, Costain chief executive.
“The progression in group margin generated growth in underlying operating profit enabling an 8% increase in the interim dividend.”
Wylie added: "This performance is due to our differentiation as we evolve into the UK's leading smart infrastructure solutions company.
“The shape and nature of our activities continue to develop, reflecting our clients' changing needs and their demand for integrated solutions to improve the performance and capacity of their assets.”