Mears upbeat after spending review

Rival Connaught's demise and the implications of the comprehensive spending review have given social housing group Mears 'unprecedented levels of opportunity', it claimed today.Mears took over a number of contracts from Connaught when it failed and these will cost it a £0.6m charge this year. Otherwise it says trading has been solid across all divisions since announcing in August, though social housing's revenue growth is likely to be marginally below previous expectations.Orders overall stand at £2.6bn with 'unprecedented' forward visibility approaching 90% of consensus forecast revenues for 2011 and 75% for 2012. The bid pipeline is a further £3bn.The group added it is pleased with the progress made to date with the acquired Connaught contracts and remains in discussion with a number of former Connaught customers."In short, this has been a transformational year for the group and whilst this investment comes as a cost in the short term the rewards are demonstrable in the revenue visibility for 2011 and 2012. We have never been better placed to exploit our market leading positions," chairman Bob Holt said. Mears