Regeneration boost for Morgan Sindall as order book hits £3.3bn

Morgan Sindall pipeline of regeneration work has risen by nearly a third over the last four months.

Its urban regeneration division has seen its order book increase from £1.4 to £1.8bn helping to offset the impact of public sector cuts in other construction markets.

The order book was boosted by wins totalling £315m in Basingstoke and Chester and the contractor said it had a further £0.9bn of regeneration contracts at preferred developer status.

In an interim management statement covering the period 1 July 2011 to 8 November 2011 Morgan Sindall reported a total order book of £3.3bn.

Morgan Sindall said its construction and infrastructure division had been ‘impacted’ by public sector spending cuts, but said the infrastructure market remained healthy and it reported a pick up in commercial activity in London and the South East.

The firm described the affordable housing market as robust and said house sales and values had improved through the summer and autumn. It said its forward order book had increased slightly since the first half of the year.

Morgan Sindall described the fit-out market as competitive and constrained by a lack of major project opportunities. It said margins would be subdued but said it had a ‘reasonable’ workload secured for 2012.