Shares in Balfour Beatty plc (LSE:BBY) jumped more than 8% after the construction services and infrastructure giant boosted profits in the first half.
Underlying pre-tax profit jumped by nearly a third to £86mln in the first half of 2022, up from £55mln a year earlier.
And the group is in good stead to weather future headwinds with a £17.7bn order book, a 10% increase from £16.1bn a year ago, driven by a post-pandemic focus on infrastructure in its three key markets.
"With the group well-positioned to capitalise on the growing infrastructure market, underpinned by its unique capability and balance sheet strength, the upgrade to the full year performance gives the board further confidence in future capital returns," Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty’s chief executive, said.
Group revenue was flat at about £4.15bn in the first half, slipping ever so slightly from the same period of last year.
Its UK construction arm was lossmaking in the first half of 2021 but bounced back in the equivalent period of 2022, generating an underlying operating profit of £18mln.
Construction services performed well, delivering £49mln of operating profit for the business, up from £6mln a year earlier.
Basic earnings per share were 12.9p in the interim period, up from 7.7p a year earlier.
The company remains on track to deliver margins of 2-3% in the UK this year and a 1-2% margin in the US market, it said in the statement.
It expects its full year cash balance to be in the range of £740mln to £780mln, including the share buyback and working capital outflows in the second half.
Shares rose 8.23% to 313p in early deals.