Carillion is aiming to make up for its consortium’s failure to win Tube work by becoming a subcontractor for successful rivals Metronet and Tubelines.
The contractor’s finance director, Chris Girling, said this week that he had not been disappointed not be named as a preferred bidder for the £13bn investment in the Tube.

He said: “We want to be a traditional subcontractor for the consortiums and this will still be very lucrative. They don’t have the resources to do all the work on their own.”

Metronet and Tubelines expect to sign deals with London Underground before the summer.

Executive director Roger Robinson added: “Sometimes there are prizes for losers.”

The comments were made as Carillion reported its results for the year to 31 December. Pre-tax profit was up 8% compared with 2000 to £45.1m. Turnover remained static at £1.9bn.

Chief executive John McDonough said 60%

of the group’s profit had come from its support services businesses, including PFI investments, rail and road work. He said 200 staff had lost their jobs after the group restructured last year, and another 100 positions would be lost through natural wastage and non-replacement policies. Carillion expects that the changes, which cost £10m, will save it £5m a year.

Carillion refused to say how much money it made working for the government during the foot-and-mouth epidemic. The firm, which built pyres, said the contracts were confidential.