Announced its 2022 half-year financial results, the contractor reported a 42% rise in underlying profit from operations at £85 million.

Revenue was £4,147m, a slight dip on the £4,154m reported for the same period 12 months ago.

Looking ahead, the group’s order book has increased 10% to £17.7 billion compared with a year ago, while there has been a rise in half year average net cash from £671m to £811m.

Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty group chief executive, said that Balfour Beatty’s focus on selectively bidding for contracts where it held expert capability and could achieve improved contract terms had resulted in a higher quality order book with enhanced risk protection in the inflationary environment.

He added: “With the group well-positioned to capitalise on the growing infrastructure market, underpinned by its unique capability and balance sheet strength, the upgrade to the full year performance gives the board further confidence in future capital returns.”