Keller's trading "above expectations"

Ground engineer Keller Group has predicted its results for the financial year to end of December "will be significantly above current market expectations".

It said its £10.7m acquisition of Anderson in October and its £9.6m acquisition of Piling Contractors in August has boosted the group's order book by about 15% since the end of June.

In the US, its foundations businesses have benefited from strong demand in commercial and public infrastructure markets, although there has been a slowdown in the residential market.

Justin Atkinson, chief executive, commenting, said: "We are currently enjoying good demand for our ground engineering solutions in most parts of the Group and our strong sales growth continues to outstrip market growth rates.

"Whilst we remain cautious about the sustainability of the extremely buoyant trading in the US, we are confident of delivering further improvement in our other geographic segments."