Balfour Beatty profit jumps, strong outlook

LONDON, Aug 13 (Reuters) - Construction and services group Balfour Beatty (BALF.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) posted a 25 percent rise in first-half profit on Wednesday and said it expects order intake and trading to remain strong throughout the year.

"We anticipate that we will make further good progress in the second half of the year," chief executive Ian Tyler told Reuters in an interview.

"We are seeing no signs of any slowdown in the public and regulated sectors, which account for 80 percent of our business, or even in the private sector, which is also continuing to invest through the cycle."

Tyler said he expected growth in all four of its businesses - building, engineering, rail and investments - in the second half of the year.

This is despite recent surveys pointing to UK construction activity continuing to fall at a record pace, in a further sign the sector is weakening sharply in the wake of the credit crunch.

The UK's largest infrastructure contractor reported pretax profit before exceptionals of 95 million pounds ($180.8 million) for the six months to 28 June, compared to 76 million pounds last year and amedian consensus forecast of 92 million poounds in a Reuters poll of five analysts.

Profits were boosted by particularly strong progress in the building and engineering sectors, while rail and investments profits fell slightly. But the chief executive expected that both rail and investments would grow in the second half, driven by an order book up 14 percent at a record 12.1 billion pounds. Continued...