Balfour Beatty has reported a 26% increase in the US in 2024, as the country was one of the two identified growth markets for the construction company.
Apart from the significant order growth in the US, Balfour Beatty also more than doubled its backlog of power transmission and distribution work in the UK in 2024.
The company’s total revenue increased to £10.01bn ($12.96bn) in 2024 from £9.5bn reported in 2023. Its underlying profit from earnings-based businesses grew to £252m from £236m.
Balfour Beatty’s US construction business generated the largest share of this revenue, at £3.63bn on a profit from underlying operations (PFO) margin of 1.1%.
UK construction generated revenue of £3.01bn and a PFO margin of 2.7%. Gammon, the company’s 50:50 joint venture with Jardine Matheson based in Hong Kong, accounted for £1.55bn worth of revenue and a PFO margin of 2.5%.
Meanwhile, the company’s support services segment generated £1.21bn in revenue and a PFO margin of 7.7%.
The company aims to repurchase £125m of shares during the 2025 phase of its multiyear share buyback programme, bringing the cumulative return to shareholders since the introduction in 2021 of the multiyear capital allocation framework to more than £940m.
Balfour Beatty Group CEO Leo Quinn said: “The board continues to have confidence in Balfour Beatty’s ongoing ability to deliver sustainable cash generation for significant shareholder returns, as evidenced by our announcement of increased dividends and share buybacks for 2025.
“Balfour Beatty is well-positioned to continue its disciplined performance in the medium term, with strong order book visibility, attractive opportunities in our growth markets of UK energy, transport and defence, and US buildings, and our expert, highly engaged workforce positioning the group for ongoing success.”
Balfour Beatty said it would focus on the US states where growth is projected at 7% per year until 2029, ahead of the national average.
The construction company is also anticipating growth in the UK defence market, having been chosen in 2024 by Rolls-Royce as a construction partner for its Ministry of Defence and AUKUS expansion.
