Carillion set for "substantial" profit increase

Contractor Carilion is set to “substantially increase” its pre-tax profit for the full year 2012 compared with 2011, the firm has said.

In a trading update to the city the contractor said it expected to increase pre-tax profit and earnings per share.

In 2011, the firm reported a pre-tax profit of £143m on revenue of £5.1bn.

Today, the firm said it expected to report a “robust financial performance” in 2012. It added that its operating margin in 2012 would also increase.

But it added that revenue in 2012 would be lower in 2011, as it has previously predicted.

However, Carillion said revenue in the Middle East was expected to improve significantly in the second half of 2012, helping to prop-up the firm’s overall figures.

It said it was aiming to grow revenue from the Middle East to an annual £1bn by 2015.

The firm said its UK construction arm was now focused on high value longer term contracts. It also announced that the firm had secured £200m of work on road projects with the A1(M) upgrade and the A5-M1 link road scheme.

Carillion said operating profit for construction services would increase as a result of its selective approach.

It also said it expected growth in its support services division where its order book remained strong. Carillion has recently achieved financial close on the contract for the Birmingham Energy Savers retrofit programme worth up to £1.5bn.

It said there were substantial opportunities for support services work in the UK, Canada and the Middle East.

The firm also announced that it has bought a 49% share in Canadian support services firm Bouchier Group for £24m.