Costain Regulatory News (COST)

Costain Group PLC

("Costain" or "the Group" or "the Company")

Year End Trading Update

4 January 2018

Costain, the smart infrastructure solutions company, is issuing a trading update ahead of announcing results for the year ended 31 December 2017 on 1 March 2018.

Since the announcement of its interim results on 23 August 2017, the Group has continued to perform well and expects to deliver full-year results in line with the Board's expectations.

The Group is making good progress in its transformation into the UK's leading smart infrastructure solutions company. Examples of recent activity in this regard include the Group's involvement in the operational trials of HGV platooning vehicles, the Government funded testbeds for connected and autonomous vehicles, and asset optimisation for a number of water utilities. We have also appointed technology leader Jacqueline de Rojas CBE as a non-executive director.

Costain continues to differentiate itself by offering integrated technology, consultancy, asset optimisation and complex delivery services to meet the ever more complex challenges of enhancing the nation's infrastructure.

As a result of new orders, including further awards on the High Speed 2 programme, the Group has finished the year with a high-quality order book maintained at £3.9 billion (31 December 2016: £3.9 billion). In addition, Costain has a preferred bidder position at c. £400 million (31 December 2016: £500 million). Following very good cash generation towards the end of the period, the Group finished the year with a strong net cash position of over £150 million (31 December 2016: £140.2 million).

Andrew Wyllie CBE, chief executive, said:

"Costain has had another strong year. Our performance is a direct consequence of our differentiation and our ability to provide the rapidly changing range of integrated services required by our major clients."