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(Alliance News) - Balfour Beatty PLC on Wednesday hiked its dividend for 2019 as the infrastructure group reported a positive 2019, with rises in profit and revenue.
For the recent year, London-based Balfour Beatty said pretax profit was up 12% to GBP138 million from GBP123 million the year before, driven by improvements in the group's earnings-based businesses.
On an underlying basis, which excludes an impairment of goodwill relating to the Gas & Water unit, pretax profit was up 10% to GBP200 million from GBP181 million.
Profit from operations rose by 8% to GBP221 million from GBP205 million, as all earnings-based business achieved underlying PFO margins in line with industry standards.
Revenue for 2019, meanwhile, grew by 7.7% to GBP8.41 billion from GBP7.81 billion the prior year, buoyed by a stronger performance from Construction Services following a rise in volume in the UK and US.
The resulting 12% increase in Construction Services revenue more than offset a 7% decline from Support Services, which was a result of lower volumes in power transmission and distribution, as well as the conclusion of the Area 10 highways maintenance contract.
At the end of 2019 Balfour Beatty's order book stood at GBP14.3 billion, up 13% from GBP12.6 billion at the end of 2018, driven by several mixed-use projects awarded to its US Construction business.
Balfour Beatty declared a final dividend of 4.3 pence per share, bringing the total payout to 6.8p, a 33% rise from 4.8p the year before.
Looking ahead, the group said the order book at the end of 2019 did not include the two HS2 contract awards and the Old Oak Common station which it has been awarded but not contracted.
These contracts are set to add GBP3 billion to the order book in the first half of 2020. HS2 is the high-speed rail line being constructed between London and Birmingham.
"Five years into our Build to Last transformation programme, we continue to drive a culture of transparency, risk management and relentless improvement. Having focused Balfour Beatty's geographic and operational footprint, we have invested significantly in capability, innovation and standard systems and processes," said Chief Executive Leo Quinn.
"We are committed to delivering value from this performance. The group is continuing to pay down around GBP150 million of borrowings in 2020 and in addition, the board will review Balfour Beatty's capital structure once there is clearer understanding of the covid-19 situation," Quinn added.
Shares in Balfour Beatty were up 8.9% at 240.40 pence on Wednesday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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