Atkins issues upbeat trading statement and announces the replacement of John Weight by Andrew Lazala at Metornet.
Atkins has announced that pre-tax profit will be in line with expectations for the year end 31 March 2005 despite a slowdown in the rail market.
In a trading statement it said that the outlook for its core markets was good but said the rail business faced short-term challenges.
Atkins said that its transport arm had been affected by delays in capital expenditure by Network Rail and the Highways Agency.
However, Atkins said it had recently been selected as lead bidder for two large resignalling projects, and had won contracts to widen part of the M1 and to provide highway consultancy services to Birmingham City Council for five years.
Atkins said performance in its design and engineering solutions had been strong, and claimed that the Middle East operation was expanding rapidly.
It also announced a strong performance from its management consultants although it said the US market was challenging.
At Atkin's tube consortium Metronet, John Weight is stepping down as chief executive and chairman and will be replaced by Andrew Lazala as chief executive and Keith Clarke as non-executive chairman. Clarke will continue in his role as chief executive of Atkins.
