Carillion shrugs off government cuts

By PETER CRIPPS AND PETER RANSCOMBE
Published on 04/07/2012 14:54

Support services company Carillion today said it is on-track to meet City expectations despite the UK government’s cut-backs hitting first-half revenues.

The Wolverhampton-based firm said it has grown profit margins by being more selective in bidding for contracts, which helped offset a decline in UK construction revenues amid the UK government’s austerity drive.

Carillion was also encouraged as more local authorities out-sourced work to make efficiency savings, citing a recent £700 million property and facilities management contract for Oxfordshire County Council.

But its order book slipped to £18 billion from £19.1bn and it said it expects its markets to remain challenging.