Surge in forward orders at Costain

22nd Aug 2013 08:29

UK engineering and construction firm Costain posted an increase in underlying operating profit, delivered a 20 per cent increase in its forward order book and boosted it dividend payment.The group, which provides engineering solutions and consulting said operating profit rose to £10.7m in the half-year to end-June from £10.4m a year earlier. Adjusted pre-tax profit fell to £8.4m for the half-year ended June 30th 2013 from £16.3m before. The figure includes a £10.5m profit from the transfer of PFI assets to the Pension Scheme and £2.7m one-off costs resulting from Pension Scheme liability actions, it explained. Revenue slipped to £462.9m during the period from £477.9m a year earlier. It said in excess of £900m of new contracts and extensions were secured in the first half. The forward order book rose to £2.9bn from £2.4bn at the end of June last year, with over 90% of order book comprises repeat orders.Costain said it is confident of delivering results for the full year in line with its expectations.Chairman David Allvey said it was encouraging start to the year against a backdrop of persistently challenging market conditions."Costain remains on course to deliver a result for the year in line with the board's expectations and we are pleased to increase the interim dividend for the sixth successive year."Shares of Costain rose 2.14% to 286.75p at 09:15 in London.CJ