The collapse of Carillion contributes to the sending of more contracts

(Reuters) – British construction group Balfour Beatty said on Wednesday it had gained ground following the bankruptcy of Carillion, which had announced a profit increase of nearly 10%.

Carillion's bankruptcy in January 2018 was seen as a turning point for the UK construction sector, which ended a race to the bottom in bid prices for public sector work.

"Our backlog has benefited from the collapse of Carillion, but that means we're a better company and the lowest bidder is no longer on the market," said Leo Quinn, president. -General manager.

Shares of Balfour Beatty rose nearly 3% to 293.1 pence at 08:46 GMT, outperforming the mid-cap index.

"Leo Quinn has successfully proven that income is a vanity and that profits are a reason," said George Salmon, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

But he added that the fall of Carillion was a constant reminder of the little margin of error that can exist in the industry.

This point is underscored by the critical situation of the Interserve Support Services Group where shareholders will vote Friday on a debt-for-equity swap.

After taking up his position at Balfour Beatty in 2015, Quinn launched a turnaround plan, focusing on focusing more on winning higher margin projects in his markets.

The company, which builds transportation, power and utility systems, attributed the earnings increase in 2018 to its turnaround plan and more selective approach to contracts.

Underlying earnings before taxes increased from 165 million a year ago to 181 million pounds for 2018, the company added, adding that margins in the United States and the United Kingdom exceeded their targets in the second half of the year.

The company listed on the FTSE 250 stated that its order book had increased by 11% to 12.6 billion pounds at the end of 2018.

Quinn said that the impact of the Brexit on its operations would be minimal since it was a local business, but that he had put in place plans for the future. urgency to ensure that he could continue to respect current and future work commitments.