BALFOUR Beatty has provided a trading update ahead of the firm’s AGM, stating that overall trading so far in 2022 has been in line with expectations.
At the end of March, the group’s order book was £15.6 billion, down slightly from December’s £16.1 billion figure. Balfour Beatty said the board has confidence the group will deliver managed growth in profits this year, building on the £181 million delivered by the earnings-based businesses in 2021.
Over the first four months of 2022, the average monthly closing net cash balance increased to around £800 million (full year 2021 average: £671 million, December 2021 net cash balance: £790 million). On completion of the 2022 share buyback, and some expected normalisation of working capital, average monthly net cash for the full year is expected to be ‘moderately lower’ than the first four months of the year.
Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty group chief executive, said, “We remain confident that the group is well positioned for 2022 and beyond. Our business portfolio has been transformed to focus on the growing infrastructure markets of the UK, US, and Hong Kong – each underpinned by strong government investment programmes.
“The strength of our balance sheet and the higher quality of our order book will enable us to maximise these opportunities for profitable growth while remaining resilient to the current macro-economic challenges.”
