Contractors' poor run continues as only 17 firms record enough work to make it into the monthly league.
Contractors' workload fell for the fourth month in succession in April, but there are signs that work began to flow freely again in the first two weeks of May.
The top players won only £381.5m of work in April, barely more than half the £731m posted in the same period a year ago.
HBG held on to the monthly top spot, with seven contracts worth £93.9m. Bovis moved from eighth to second, clocking up £79m worth of contracts, including the £60m Ocean Terminal and Shopping Centre in Edinburgh and a £17m library refurbishment and extension for the London School of Economics. Kier, on the other hand, dropped from second to ninth place.
The amount of work placed by clients also fell for the third month running, standing at £2297m compared with £2639m last April.
But better times are ahead, if early May's buoyant mood can be trusted. Experts predict that next month's figures will show a slight upturn.
