Costain has reported a revenue of £639.3m ($838.39m) for the first half (H1) of 2024, down 3.8% from £664.4m in the same period last year.  

This decrease was due to growth in the Natural Resources segment and a reduction in Transportation. 

Operating profit for the first six months ending 30 June 2024 increased to £13.9m, up from £7.6m in H1 2023.  

Adjusted operating profit also rose 8.7% to £16.3m, compared to £15.0m in H1 2023, reflecting improved operating margins in Transportation and higher volumes and margins in Natural Resources. 

The company’s profit before tax was £17m in H1 2024, up from £8.5m in H1 2023.  

Net finance income also increased to £3.1m from £0.9m in H1 2023, driven by higher interest income from increased bank deposits and lower bank charges. 

Basic earnings per share (EPS) grew to £5 in H1 2024, compared to £1.90 in H1 2023.  

Meanwhile, diluted EPS increased to £4.90 in H1 2024, from £1.80 in H1 2023. 

Costain CEO Alex Vaughan said: “We are performing strongly and are progressing with our strategic priorities in our chosen growth markets, including broadening our customer and service mix. In the first half we have delivered a further significant increase in operating profit together with a sharp growth in earnings per share.  

“The net cash balance grew to £166m, adjusted operating margin increased as expected, and due to the quality of our earnings, we remain on track to deliver our margin targets during FY24 [financial year 2024] and FY25.” 

The company aims to achieve an adjusted operating margin run rate of 3.5% in FY24 and 4.5% in FY25, with a goal of exceeding 5.0% in the future. 

This comes after Costain was granted a multimillion-pound contract to lead the front-end engineering and design process for a new hydrogen pipeline network in Teesside, UK, earlier this month.