Balfour Beatty is on track to boost its revenue and operational profit in 2025, it has announced.
In a trading update this morning (4 December), the UK’s largest contractor said it expected its turnover ─ including revenue from joint ventures ─ to be more than 5 per cent higher than the £10bn it achieved in the year to 31 December 2024.
This will be driven mainly by US buildings and UK energy jobs, it said, citing projects such as the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station and Net Zero Teesside carbon capture.
Completing the 3.5-mile-long Bromford Tunnel for HS2, its fourth and final tunnel for the megaproject, was also cited as a success for its construction services business.
When an unspecified £10m insurance recovery issue is excluded, the firm is on course to achieve a 3 per cent profit from operations (PFO) margin, the update said.
Overall underlying PFO is expected to exceed 2024’s figure of £252m, driven by UK construction services and support services, although offset slightly by lower profits in US construction.
Balfour Beatty also expects its order book to grow by around 20 per cent this year, compared with £18.4bn at the end of 2024.
It said this will be driven mostly by UK construction, especially from the energy market, with £3.5bn in power generation orders added this year.
Balfour Beatty has also included £3bn of work on Sizewell C in the order book, after signing on to deliver works at the nuclear plant as part of an industry alliance with Laing O’Rourke and Bouygues Travaux Publics.
Other wins include being named as the sole contractor on Rolls-Royce’s fissile construction framework and a £162m contract to build the Dunard Centre concert hall in Edinburgh.
In September, former AtkinsRéalis chief operating officer Philip Hoare took over as chief executive of Balfour Beatty, after Leo Quinn stood down after 10 years in charge.
In today’s trading update, Hoare described “exciting opportunities in our end-markets, a high-quality order book and disciplined risk processes” that give the contractor “a powerful platform to shape the next chapter of growth”.
He said the firm’s immediate priority was to finish 2025 strongly and lay the groundwork for a strong 2026.
A share buyback scheme will continue into 2026.
Despite a steep decline in construction activity, which S&P Global’s latest PMI index estimates has continued for the past 11 months, the Balfour update is the latest in a string of recent bullish trading updates from listed contractors.
Kier, Morgan Sindall and Renew are among those to offer positive statements around order books, strong trading and rising revenues in recent months.
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