Carillion ups profits and builds order book

24th Aug 2011 09:01

Profits at British building firm Carillion were up 10% in the first half of the year, reaching £72.5m.However, including one-off acquisition costs of £28m the company saw profits drop by 35%.Chairman, Philip Rogerson, said the builder expected to deliver full-year earnings growth in line with market expectations.Carillion, which maintains motorways and railways and also operates in Canada and the Middle East, said its combined current order book and probable orders stood at £19.4bn.It also said there were increasing outsourcing opportunities in UK local and central government.The firm said that it had been selected as the preferred bidder for contracts to provide services for two local authorities expected to be worth £50m over four years.It was also named as the preferred bidder in Alberta, Canada, for road maintenance work and was awarded an 11-year area maintenance contract by the Ontario Department of Transportation worth around £83m. Carillion's shares rose 2.5% following the announcement.