Contractors confident of global growth despite fall in revenue over last three monhts

Balfour Beatty has reported trading in line with expectations despite a year-on-year fall in revenue in the third quarter.

The group said contract wins over the three months to November 10 had boosted its order book to £15bn. It said decline in turnover had slowed since the first quarter.

The contractor said its spread of global activity had enabled it to take advantage of bouyant markets such as Australia and Hong Kong, helping it to offset the decline in regions such as the Middle East.

It said it was well placed to take capitalise on growth in global infrastructure spending.

In the UK, where 20% of business is dependent on capital expenidture, Balfour Beatty said it was too early to predict the impact of government spending cuts. It said it well positioned  to take advantage of outsourcing by public bodies seeking to reduce costs.

In the US, the group said federal spending had boosted workloads in North America but said there was still no sign of recovery in private construction markets.

Average net cash for the third quarter exceeded £400m.