Costain appears to have ridden out the recession comfortably, with profit and turnover increasing during the six months to 30 June 2010.
Profit before tax was up 19% to 拢8.2m (H1 2009: 拢6.9 million), while revenue climbed from 拢508m to 拢533m.
The contractor secured over 拢400m of new work during the period, including highways, water and Crossrail contracts, taking its order book to 拢2.5bn, roughly the same as a year ago.
Costain has a strong net cash position of 拢133.9m (June 2009: 拢119.2m).
The group's Environment division, which focuses on utilities, delivered revenue of 拢246m, down from the 拢301m posted a year ago.
The shortfall was more than made up by Infrastructure, which reported a turnover of 拢224m (H1 2009: 拢164m).
Energy & Process increased revenue from 拢42.5m to 拢62.4m.
Chairman David Allvey, said: "Costain has again delivered a good result for the first half of the year. It is testimony to the Group's strategic focus and leading market positions that, in one of the most testing economic environments, Costain continues to deliver a strong operational and financial performance.
"We are successfully implementing the 'Choosing Costain' strategy, focusing on major customers with spending plans that are underpinned by strategic needs, regulatory commitments or essential maintenance requirements.
鈥淐ostain has a proven scale and capability to successfully deliver complex solutions in markets with significant potential including power, waste, rail and nuclear. We will continue to broaden our capability in providing a range of lifecycle solutions to our customers.
"Whilst challenging market conditions are set to continue for the foreseeable future, the Board expects to report continued progress at the year-end in line with its expectations."
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