Earnings at Dutch giant up a third to 鈧20.6m despite BSF woes

The UK arms of Dutch construction giant Royal Bam reported increased profits of 鈧20.6m (拢16.92m) on falling revenues in the first half of this year.

Profits rose by a third on the same period last year, having reached just 鈧15.5m (拢12.74m) in 2009. However revenues at the same time dropped 9.5% to 鈧885m (拢727.52m).

The firm said it also increased the value of its future order book in the UK, contributing to 鈧12.4bn (拢10.19) forward orders across the group, despite the cut backs to the 好色先生TV Schools for Future programme.

The firm also said its UK construction profits were hit by the high cost of tendering in the country, with revenue falling 16%, as well as the cancellation of BSF.

It said it did not rule out future job cuts in 鈥渁 number of regions鈥 in the next six months.

However, its infrastructure arm, BAM Nuttall, performed well, despite facing increasing competition.