Balfour Beatty knocked by more write-downs

Contractor Balfour Beatty has been hit by further write-downs in its full year results, with pre-tax profits after exceptional items falling 11%.

Balfour Beatty revealed a £25m write-down in its preliminary results to 31 December 2006. The sum includes costs associated with the integration of Birse, which it acquired in July, and a previously announced £21m hit associated with the closure of the group’s US civil engineering business.

After exceptionals, Balfour Beatty’s pre-tax profits fell to £125m from £141m the previous year.

Before exceptionals, pre-tax profit rose 13% to £152m. Turnover rose 18.5% to £5.8 bn across the same period. The year-end order book increased by 20% to £9.1bn, compared with £7.6 bn in 2005.

Chief executive Ian Tyler said: “We have record order books, a number of preferred bidder positions on major projects and our markets are generally healthy and continue to offer substantial opportunity…We believe that we will be able to make further good progress in 2007.”