Costain sees surge in revenue and orders

Revenue at Costain has jumped 17% to £621m on the back of a record £3.7bn order book, up by half a billion pounds on the same time last year.

Announcing half year results to June 30, Costain said contracts including the development of the M4 corridor around Newport, the Crossrail underground link at Paddington and improvement schemes on the A14 also helped it post a 25% rise in pre-tax profits of £11.4m, up from £9.1m in 2014.

The order book figure includes £950m for 2016, and approximately £2.2bn for 2017 and beyond. Costain also reported that the firm was preferred bidder for a further £500m of work, a £100m rise over 2014’s figures. Costain’s order book was £3.2bn at the same point in 2014.

Costain confirmed the acquisiton the 550-strong Rhead Group for £36m in the half year report, which is expected to boost annual results by 3-5p per share.

Speaking about the results Costain’s chief executive Andrew Wyllie said: “We have delivered another strong performance in the first half of the year. In addition to growth in revenue and profit, our order book now stands at a record £3.7 billion.

“Costain has an established reputation for delivering innovative integrated services that enables the Group to win large, long-term contracts addressing the UK’s National needs in energy, water and transportation.

“Costain is accelerating its growth and following the 17% increase in underlying operating profit in the first half of the year is on course to deliver a result for the year at the upper-end of the Board’s expectations. Our confidence for the future is reflected in the 15% increase in dividend.”