Carillion 's (CLLN) decision to shift towards less cyclical support services work was a shrewd move. Support services now account for nearly 60 per cent of underlying operating profit, with management wanting to grow this proportion to 70 per cent. That is hardly surprising given such services provided the bulk of profit growth during the first half
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Without the slowdown last year's general election caused in contract awards by the UK government, new and probable new orders for support services picked up to £1.6bn from just £0.6bn in the previous comparable period. Operating margins also increased a percentage point to 5.7 per cent here, freed of high contract mobilisation costs incurred last year.