BALFOUR Beatty has issued a trading update for the year so far in which the business revealed overall trading has been in line with expectations.
Released ahead of its AGM, Balfour Beatty said the board continues to expect the group’s 2023 profit from operations from its earnings-based businesses to be ‘broadly’ in line with 2022.
At the end of March, the order book stood at £17 billion. New projects added in the first quarter of 2023 include a £297 million seven-year East Sussex road maintenance contract, a US $242 million design-build highways contract in North Carolina, and a US $230 million of data centres in the US Northwest.
Over the first three months of 2023, Balfour Beatty said the average monthly closing net cash balance was £740 million, driven by an expected working capital outflow of around £100 million and share buybacks. The board expects a full-year working capital outflow of between £75 and £125 million for 2023 and for the £150 million share buyback to be completed by the end of the year, with £75 million completed to date.
