22nd Aug 2018 09:05
LONDON (Alliance News) - Costain Group PLC on Wednesday proposed an increased interim dividend after saying it delivered "another good first half performance".
For the six months to June 30, the infrastructure solutions company posted pretax profit of GBP19.5 million, up from GBP15.7 million a year ago. Revenue, however, dropped 12% to GBP758.7 million from GBP847.8 million.
The rise in profit was attributed to increased margins, good return from Infrastructure division and a significant improvement in the Natural Resources division. The drop in revenue was blamed upon the changing mix of the company's business activities.
"We delivered another good performance in the first half of the year. This performance is due to our differentiation as we evolve into the UK's leading smart infrastructure solutions company," Chief Executive Officer Andrew Wyllie said.
"The shape and nature of our activities continues to develop, reflecting our clients' changing needs and their demand for integrated solutions to improve the performance and capacity of their assets," he added.
The company increased its interim dividend by 8% to 5.15 pence per share from 4.75p a year ago.
Looking ahead, the group "remains on course to deliver full year results in line with the board's expectations", as it has secured GBP1.4 billion of revenue for the full financial year to December, Costain added.
Costain shares were trading down 1.2% at 426.26p each.
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