Norman Foster has revealed that his practice has turned a £544,000 loss for the year ended 30 April 2004 into a £2.5m profit in the following 12 months.

Foster and Partner's turnover rose 18% to £44m in the same period.

Foster said: "I am pleased to report that the significant investment made last year in improving our infrastructure has immediately proved successful by rewarding the practice with higher turnover and stronger profitability."

During the past year, Foster and Partners has won contracts in North America, China, the Middle East, Russia and the UK. The number of countries in which the practice is working has increased to 25, from 22 the previous year. Thirteen per cent of the practice's turnover came from the USA and 9% from China. The UK still accounts for 43% of the firm's workload.

Foster added that he expected his practice to continue its recovery over the next financial year. He said: "Looking ahead, the coming year continues to bring creative excitement and financial reward to the practice with further revenue and income growth forecasted.

Although still under construction, the Hearst Headquarters in New York and Beijing Airport are already receiving critical praise.

"We are at this very time involved in the tendering process of significant project work across the globe which has been made possible by our ability to continually provide world class projects and service."