Carillion has reported a 14% rise in revenue in its results for the year ended 31 December 2016.

However, while total revenue increased from £4.5 billion to £5.2bn, pre-tax profits fell 5% to £146.7 million (2015: £155.1m).

The company said performance was in line with expectations, with its support services division contributing to over two thirds of total operating profit, offsetting expected profit reduction from Public Private Partnership projects and Middle East construction services.

Construction operating margin was 2.7%, down from 3.0% in 2015, but still within the target range of 2.5 to 3%.

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With a construction pipeline worth £41.6bn for this year (2015:£41.4bn), Carillion Chairman Philip Green said the Group has a "good platform" from which to take the business forward in 2017.

"In 2016, Carillion's performance was led by revenue growth and an increased margin in support services, together with good cash flow," he said.

"Given the size and quality of our order book and pipeline of contract opportunities, our customer-focused culture and integrated business model, we have a good platform from which to develop the business in 2017.

"We will accelerate the rebalancing of our business into markets and sectors where we can win high-quality contracts and achieve our targets for margin and cash flows, while actively managing the positions we have in challenging markets.

"We will also begin reducing average net borrowing by stepping up our ongoing cost reduction programmes and our focus on managing working capital."

(LM/CD)