Shares
in
construction
giant
Balfour
Beatty
jumped
8.3%
to
368p
in
early
exchanges
in
London
on
Wednesday
on
news
of
a
share
buyback
following
results
for
the
full
year
2023.
This
was
despite
a
15%
drop
in
pre-tax
profits
to £244
million
from £287
million
in
2022,
caused
in
part
by
lower
gains
on
investment
disposals,
a
situation
it
had
already
alerted
the
market
to.
It
was
also
unable
to
benefit
from
a
£56
million
tax
credit
relating
to
the
recognition
of
additional
UK
tax
losses
in
2022,
which
won’t
repeat
for
2023.
Nevertheless,
revenue
at
the
group
was
strong
with
a
7.4%
uptick,
including
joint
ventures
and
associates,
to
£9.60
billion
from
£8.93
billion
in
2022.
Statutory
revenue,
which
excludes
those
items,
was
4.8%
higher
at
£8
billion
from
£7.6
billion.
Diluted
earnings
per
share
declined
to
34.8p
from
46.3p.
Balfour
will
now
lift
its
final
dividend
by
14%
to
8p
from
7p.
This
means
its
annual
dividend
will
be
10%
higher
at
11.5p
from
10.5p.
In
addition,
it
will
repurchase
£100
million
of
its
stock
during
the
2024
phase
of
its
share
buyback
programme.
However,
this
still
means
total
planned
returns
of
£160
million
in
2024
will
be
down
from
£208
million
in
2023.
Underlying
operating
profit
from
the
earnings-based
businesses
–
construction
and
support
services
–
of
£236
million,
was
slightly
higher
than
£232
million
in
2022.
It
now
expects
an
upturn
in
underlying
operating
profit
in
2024,
with
growth
accelerating
in
2025.
This
is
underpinned
by
a
£16.5
billion
order
book,
Balfour
said,
although
this
was
lower
than
the
£17.4
billion
seen
at
the
end
of
2022.
Balfour
said
the
second
half
of
2023
showed
a
clear
improvement
in
orders
compared
to
the
first
half,
as
interest
rates
stabilised.
In
2025,
Balfour
expects
growth
to
accelerate,
driven
by
energy,
transport
and
defence
in
UK
and
buildings
in
US.
“The
Group’s
reliability
and
resilience
has
again
delivered
a
solid
performance,
with
increased
revenue
and
profit
from
our
earnings-based
businesses
and
strong
operating
cash
flow,”chief
executive
Leo
Quinn
said.
“This
success
against
a
challenging
economic
backdrop
is
driven
by
our
disciplined
contract
risk
management
across
a
geographically
and
operationally
diversified
portfolio.
“The
board
remains
confident
in
Balfour
Beatty’s
ongoing
ability
to
deliver
sustainable
cash
generation
for
significant
shareholder
returns,
with
growth
from
our
earnings-based
businesses
in
2024
underpinned
by
the
strength
of
the
group’s
order
book.”
At
the
time
of
writing
shares
in
the
company
are
currently
up
7.6%
to
365p.
By
Jeremy
Cutler,
Alliance
News
reporter
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