Carillion has reported a 'strong' growth in its construction activities despite a decline a new orders.

The company experienced a 21% increase in revenue for the first six months ended 30 June 2015, with a leap from £1,871.0m last year to £2,258.6m in 2015.

Pre-tax profit remained steady at £67.5m, the same figure as last year.

Underlying profit rose 16% from £97.4m in 2014 to £112.5m in 2015.

However, while underlying profit and earnings grew strongly, substantial costs were incurred due to mobilising new contracts and the expected effect of the margin in Construction services (excluding the Middle East) trending down towards a 'more normal' level.

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After picking up lots of order in 2014, a slow down in business was attributed to the effect of the general election.

The value of new orders and probable orders in the first half totalled £1bn, while in 2014 this figure stood at £3.2bn.

The order book, including probably orders, was worth £17.1bn at 30 June 2015, down from £18.6bn at the start of the year.

However, pipeline contract opportunities increased to £40.5bn from £39.2bn.

Carillion Chairman, Philip Green, said: "I am pleased to report that Carillion has continued to perform in line with expectations, which reflects the actions we took during the economic downturn to position our businesses in markets where we can now achieve revenue growth, consistent with our targets for margins and cash flow.

"We have also made good progress with mobilising a number of major new contracts won in 2014. 

"Therefore, with a strong order book, a growing pipeline of contract opportunities and the prospect of market conditions continuing to improve, our expectations for 2015 and the medium term remain unchanged."

(LM)