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Revenue fell 18% to \u00a3525m, with road and rail volumes down as highways schemes completed and parts of the HS2 programme were rephased into later years.<\/p>\n
Despite this margins climbed to 3.2% from 2.5% as reported pre-tax profit edged up 7% to \u00a318m.<\/p>\n
Chief executive Alex Vaughan said the results underlined \u201cthe improving quality of our contract portfolio\u201d and confirmed the group was on track to hit its 4.5% margin run-rate in the full-year.<\/p>\n
Natural resources proved the standout performer, with revenue up 7% to \u00a3209m and divisional operating profit nearly doubling to \u00a316m.<\/p>\n
The unit benefitted from new energy transition work, contract wins in defence and nuclear, and a positive close to the AMP7 water framework cycle. Margins in the division leapt to 7.7% from 4.3%.<\/p>\n
The highways business, however, felt the impact of project completions, with road revenues halving to just \u00a382m. This saw revenue at the transportation division fall by 29% to \u00a3316m and operating profit plunge to \u00a37.3m (H1 24: \u00a313.8m). Costain added it was seeing a rising workload at Heathrow, which lifted integrated transport revenues nearly 80% to \u00a349m.<\/p>\n
The forward order book has swelled to \u00a35.6bn \u2013 more than four times last year\u2019s turnover \u2013 as Costain secured new long-term programmes across water, nuclear and aviation.<\/p>\n
Presently the order book contains no single stage lump sum contracts and was predominated by target cost contracts.<\/p>\n
Costain said 90% of forecast revenue for FY25 is already secured.<\/p>\n
Cash remains strong at \u00a3145m, with year-end levels expected around \u00a3170m despite the launch of a fresh \u00a310m share buyback. Shareholders will also benefit from a 1.0p interim dividend, up 150% on last year.<\/p>\n
Vaughan said government\u2019s new infrastructure strategy and regulatory determinations in water, energy and aviation \u201cprovide clarity and confidence in significant growth opportunities\u201d across Costain\u2019s core markets.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n