Financial closure on key projects helps boost Carillion's orders by £6bn over last six months

Contractor Carillion has increased its order book by £6bn over the last six months, it said in a trading update today.

Carillion said overall trading in the first half of 2006 had been strong and in line with expectations. It reported that its order book has grown from £7bn at December 2005 to about £13bn at June 2006, following a number of first half successes including reaching financial close on the £12bn Allenby Connaught PPP project for the Ministry of Defence.

In its statement, Carillion said that the integration of Mowlem, which it acquired in February, was “progressing well.” It said that disposals of non-core businesses were running ahead of schedule, with Charter, Edgar Allen and MESG all sold in the first half.

Carillion has also reached agreement with Laing O’Rourke on the sale of Barclay Mowlem. In its statement, Carillion said that cash generation remained strong and net debt was under £130m at 30 June 2006.

Carillion said it expected to achieve expectations for the full year, with trading conditions expected to remain positive.