Balfour Beatty raises guidance and hikes dividend after strong half

Shares in Balfour Beatty PLC on Wednesday jumped as it lifted profit and cash guidance underpinned by a bumper order book.

Chief Executive Philip Hoare said the strong first-half performance reflects the "quality of our business", adding the firm "enters the second half with real momentum".

In response, shares in the London-based international infrastructure company jumped 9.4% to 947.00 pence each in London on Wednesday morning. Earlier Wednesday, the stock set a new 52-week high of 973.00p. The wider FTSE 250 index was flat on the day.

Balfour Beatty said pretax profit fell 2.3% to £129 million in the first six months of 2026 from £132 million the year prior.

Basic earnings per share edged up to 20.0 pence from 19.8p.

Underlying profit from operations from earnings-based businesses increased 42% to £153 million from £108 million, with underlying EPS of 21.7p per share, up from 14.4p.

Revenue climbed 8.0% to £5.56 billion from £5.15 billion, due to rising demand in US Buildings and UK power transmission.

In response, Balfour Beatty hiked its interim dividend by 12% to 4.7p per share from 4.2p.

Average net cash increased to £1.62 billion from £1.21 billion.

By division, UK construction reported underlying profit from operations of £54 million on sales of £1.57 billion, little changed on-year.

US construction saw sales rise to £2.38 billion from £2.09 billion, with underlying profit from operations of £22 million, swung from a £11 million loss the year before.

As a result of the strong results, Balfour Beatty increased 2026 guidance for earnings-based business profit from operations to low double-digit percentage growth from high single-digit percentage growth before.

It sees net finance income of £35 million to £40 million compared to £28 million to £32 million previously, and average net cash of £1.5 billion to £1.7 billion, raised from £1.3 billion to £1.5 billion.

The positive outlook is underpinned by a £22.9 billion order book, Balfour Beatty said, up from £19.5 billion at the same time a year ago, and strength of growth markets.

"Together, these strengths give us confidence in our outlook and in our ability to continue generating profitable growth and attractive returns for our shareholders," said Chief Executive Philip Hoare.

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