Balfour Beatty predicts strong year

Balfour Beatty bucked the economic gloom today by reporting a 25% rise in half-year profits and forecasting a strong finish to its financial year.

The UK’s biggest infrastructure firm, which has the contract to build the aquatics centre for the London 2012 Olympics, said its order book stood at £12.1bn (€15.3bn), up 14% on a year earlier and by 6% since the year-end.