Britain's house builder Balfour Beatty reported an almost 70 per cent rise in half-year pretax profit on Wednesday after a two-year overhaul of operations helped lift its British construction business back into the black.
The construction firm said pretax profit from continuing operations was £22 million (€24.1 million) for the six months to June 30th, up from £13 million a year ago.
Its British construction business posted a profit from operations of £2 million from a loss of £69 million last year.
Results were helped by a strong performance in its other businesses. The group said its support services unit reported profits in the range of industry-standard margins and said its US construction business well-positioned to do so this year.
Balfour has spent two years overhauling operations after losses at its British construction division led to multiple profit warnings. It scrapped its 2015 dividend, cancelled a share buy back and reorganised pension payments. The firm reinstated its dividend in 2016.
– Reuters
