Balfour Beatty's construction division has managed to return to profit, according to the Group's full year results for 2016.

In the second half of last year, the UK construction services division returned to underlying profitability with 90% of the legacy projects having reached practical completion and over 70% having reached financial completion. Overall, underlying profits from operations stood at £67m, compared with a £106m loss in the previous year.

In addition, the company recorded revenue at £8.5 billion, up from £8.2bn in 2015, while the Group made an underlying pre-tax profit loss of £60m, compared to £123m in the previous year.

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The loss reduction can be attributed to Chief Executive Leo Quinn's 'Build to Last' programme, which has so far exceeded its restructuring targets (£439m cash in: £123m cost out).

With a forward order book of £12.7bn (2015; £11bn), Mr Quinn said the transformation of the Group is "well underway".

"We have returned the Group to profit and significantly exceeded our Build to Last Phase One targets," he said.

"We have upgraded leadership, processes and controls while continuing to invest in the Group’s unique strengths. As a result, we have improved not just the quality of our order book but our customer satisfaction scores.

"Having simplified the Group, we are focused on our core markets in the UK and US, where governments are committed to large scale expenditure on infrastructure.

"All this positions us for future profitable growth. During the next two-year phase of Build to Last, we expect to achieve industry standard margins and over the medium term, industry-leading performance."

(LM/MH)