Contractor says trading in challenging market is in line with expectations

Construction and support services giant Carillion has signed £670m of contracts since it announced half year results six weeks ago, the firm said today.

In an interim management statement the firm said it was on course to meet analysts’ profit expectations, and would reduce its debt levels faster than anticipated. This was despite a continuing “challenging” environment.

It said its full year results will show “strong earnings growth”, primarily from the acquisition of Carillion Energy Services, formerly known as Eaga. Profit margins in its Middle East business will continue to contract, as clients competitively tender more work, and it is on course to downsize its UK construction business by a third by 2013.

Real-time Share Price
Real-time Share Price

The statement said: “We continue to win new contracts, preferred bidder positions and framework agreements, with a number of notable successes since we announced our half-year results that are expected to be worth up to some £670m. These comprise local government facilities management, energy services, construction services and rail infrastructure services in the UK, road maintenance services in Canada and construction services in the Middle East.”

Shares rose 2% on the statement but then fell back as overall stock market prices fell on continuing economic uncertainty.