17th Aug 2016 06:30
LONDON (Alliance News) - Construction and infrastructure company Balfour Beatty PLC on Wednesday said it has reinstated its dividend payments after its pretax loss narrowed in its first half.
The FTSE 250-listed group said its pretax loss for the six months to the end of June was GBP21.0 million, narrowed from the GBP150.0 million loss reported a year earlier, when Balfour booked writedowns on onerous contracts in its UK construction arm.
Balfour had said at the time that more than 90% of these problem contracts would be at practical or financial completion by the end of 2016.
Balfour on Wednesday said its revenue dropped to GBP3.32 billion from GBP3.47 billion, but it reduced overhead costs during the first half. It still incurred some writedowns in the US relating to historical issues, particularly in the multi-family housing unit projects.
Balfour said its order book at the end of the first half had risen to GBP12.40 billion from GBP11.00 billion at the end of December and ahead of the GBP11.30 billion recorded at the same period a year earlier.
In light of the "fundamental changes" undertaken in the business to reduce its "poor contract discipline" and "unaffordable overhead costs", Balfour said it was reinstating the interim dividend and will pay 0.90 pence per share, having paid no dividend a year earlier.
"By concentrating on our selected markets, we are growing our order book within a control environment which ensures that our business decisions lead to sustainable profit and cash growth. We have maintained a strong balance sheet and expect Balfour Beatty to make further solid and measurable progress. As a result we are able to reinstate the dividend as planned," said Chief Executive Leo Quinn.
By Hannah Boland; [email protected]; @Hannaheboland
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