(RTTNews) - Construction and engineering group Balfour Beatty Plc (BBY.L: News ) said Wednesday in an Interim Management Statement for the period between 28 June and 10 November 2009, that trading performance continues to be in line with expectations, with strong overall performance in the building sector in both the U.K. and U.S.

Balfour stated that the strong performance of construction business in the U.S. continued from the first half as evidenced by the recent contract wins in Texas, Georgia and the Carolinas to the tune of US$400 million.

The group's UK construction services signed contracts in the education sector, including construction contracts for schools and academies schemes in Hull, Lincolnshire, Stoke-on-Trent and West Sussex, despite a weak market. The good performance in the period was partially offset by lower volume of work in the regional building business. The company also noted that its U.K. facilities management business, namely Balfour Beatty WorkPlace, has a strong order book and good prospects of further work.

Balfour's U.K. major and regional civil engineering businesses also performed well, helped by good progress on several major road projects.

Although volumes in Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions came down at the end of the regulatory cycle, the firm expects new orders ahead of AMP5, the new asset management plan period, starting in April 2010.

In Hong Kong, order book grew 30% in the period. In the Middle East, performance was stable, and in Dubai, new construction work market continued to be difficult, the company said.
Balfour noted that the Rail businesses was impacted by lower volumes in the U.K. and Germany. However, good operational progress was seen on the extension and upgrade of the East London Line, the group revealed.

In infrastructure investments, Balfour closed the GBP 176 million Carlisle Northern Development Route PPP concession contract in July. The group was chosen to be the preferred bidder by Blackburn with Darwen and Bolton Councils for their GBP 450 million PPP Building Schools for the Future programme in October.

Balfour said that in order to curtail costs across businesses, the company would restructure its U.K. Rail and Mechanical and Electrical businesses in the period and its highways maintenance business earlier in the year.

On 27 October, the company formally acquired Parsons Brinckerhoff, which was consolidated into the group's results. Balfour indicated that it would be burdened by substantial cash outflows because of many factors, including additional tax charges, the unwinding of certain working capital positions and project settlement costs and the exceptional transaction and integration costs in the first year of merger.

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