Balfour Beatty continues to attract new business, and the order book at the half-year stage is expected to come in ahead of the £14.1bn reported at the end of 2009. The infrastructure group has again shown the wisdom of developing a diversified revenue stream. Not only are there four operating divisions - professional services, construction, support services and infrastructure investments - but around half of total revenue comes from outside the UK. Profits are also being boosted by the first full-time contribution from US project management specialist Parsons Brinckerhoff.
All four trading divisions have performed well in the first half, although Balfour conceded that infrastructure investments - where the group has preferred bidder positions on five projects - may be vulnerable to cutbacks in Government funding.
