UK construction company Wates Group Limited has announced a strong set of financial results for the year ended 31 December 2010.

Turnover rose by 4% to £985 million and profit before tax increased by 12% to £43.5 million, representing the sixth consecutive year of operating profit growth. The performance has been achieved against a challenging backdrop, which saw construction output drop by 2.5% in the final quarter of 2010.

Paul Drechsler, Chairman and Chief Executive of Wates, said: "2010 was a challenging year with the UK economy still in recovery. However, through close collaboration between our clients, our supply chain partners and our people, we have been able to create value by delivering high-quality projects, winning a strong forward order book and engineering cost efficiencies. We have achieved a strong set of results while maintaining our market share and competitive margins.

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"I am particularly pleased to report a year-end balance sheet that is one of the strongest in the industry, a forward order book of £2bn and a total pipeline of new business opportunities worth £4.1bn. To help deliver our ambitious growth strategy, we expect to hire around 300 new people in 2011.

"Economic factors, including a decrease in public sector funding, coupled with our commitment to deliver even more responsible value for customers mean we must continue to innovate across our entire business model. In this respect, our established key strategic programmes – safety excellence, operational excellence, supply chain management, marketing, people and CSR – have provided a robust framework for delivering progress. Our focus is on accelerating these improvements and we enter 2011 with confidence that we will build upon our results."

(CD/GK)