Balfour Beatty restarts dividends after return to profit

Construction firm posts underlying profit before tax of £7m in six months to 1 July.

Balfour Beatty has confirmed the resumption of dividend payments to shareholders after posting a profit for the second successive interim period.

The construction firm reported underlying profit before tax of £7m ($9.1m) in the six months to 1 July compared to a £130m loss in the same period a year ago.

The dividend has been set at 0.9 pence per share. It is the first dividend from Balfour Beatty since 2014.

The London-based company said its decision to streamline its business had paid off and reported an order book of £12.4bn, up 7% at constant exchange rates from last year.

Underlying revenue was broadly unchanged at £4bn.

Leo Quinn, chief executive of Balfour Beatty, said the company was on track to deliver £200m of cash flow improvement and £100 in cost savings.

"By concentrating on our selected markets, we are growing our order book within a control environment which ensures that our business decisions lead to sustainable profit and cash growth," he said in a statement.

"As a result, we are able to reinstate the dividend as planned."