Morgan Sindall PLC (LON:MGNS) shares bounced higher as it forecast results for 2021 would recover to exceed the year before the Covid-19 pandemic.
The civil engineering and building contractor saw profits slide by 31% to £60.8mln in the year to end December 2020 just ended on flat revenues of £3.03bn.
But John Morgan, chief executive, predicted a big turnaround in the current twelve months.
"The size and quality of our growing secured workload at well over £8bn leaves us well-positioned for the future and we are on track to deliver a result which is materially ahead of our previous expectations and slightly ahead of that delivered in 2019," he said in a statement.
Construction and infrastructure underpinned the 2020 results with profits here rising by 11% to £35.7mln, while urban regeneration’s contribution more than halved to £9.2mln.
Orders at the year-end had risen by 9% to £8.3bn, the FTSE 250 group added, while the year-end net cash position rose by £140mln to £333mln.
Shares rose 14% to 1,694p.