30th Jul 2014 09:20
LONDON (Alliance News) - Engineering and consulting firm WS Atkins PLC Wednesday said it has traded in line with expectations since April, despite currency headwinds, as its Middle East business continues to win contracts.
Epsom-based WS Atkins said its Middle East arm enjoyed a strong start to the new financial year as it continues to deliver work on a number of significant transport and property contacts. The company has been awarded the role of lead designer for the Doha Metro Gold Line in Qatar. The total cost of the project is more than GBP2.5 billion and Atkins' design role is worth around GBP80 million over the next couple of years.
The Gold Line is an integral part of the Qatar Rail Development Programme, consisting of four lines. The metro network will cover the Greater Doha area and will include connections to town centres and vital commercial and residential areas throughout the city.
The company joins a list of London-listed construction and engineering businesses which have been successful in the region. Earlier, this year Keller Group PLC said competition for work in the Middle East is "intense" and with a number of large events such as Dubai Expo in 2020 there is significant growth potential for British companies.
In the UK, Atkins said its highways consultancy business is operating in a buoyant market, while the rail arm is experiencing high volumes of work.
Elsewhere in the UK, Atkins said it has taken action to mitigate the reduced workload in the aerospace business, achieving a good level of redeployment of resources to other parts of the group.
The company said its energy business made a good start to the year. The company has been appointed as preferred bidder on the Silos Direct Encapsulation Plant decommissioning project at Sellafield nuclear reprocessing site.
Overall, the company said its outlook for the full year remains unchanged.
WS Atkins shares were quoted down 0.8% at 1,308.00 pence Wednesday morning.
By Anthony Tshibangu; [email protected]; @AnthonyAllNews
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