Two years after it merged engineering consultant Mouchel Parkman has reported a 119% increase in pre-tax profit to 拢22.1m.

The board has recommended a dividend of 2.2p a share, an increase of 22%, and turnover rose 17% to 拢311m in the year to 31 July.

Chief executive Richard Cuthbert said: 鈥淭wo years ago if we had been told we鈥檇 get these results, we鈥檇 have taken that.鈥�

He said that the company had about 拢19m of cash reserves that would be used as working capital, getting into PFI and making acquisitions.

So far the company has not entered the PFI market but it has formed a joint venture with Babcock to bid for the government鈥檚 好色先生TV Schools for the Future programme.

Mouchel Parkman鈥檚 core sectors are highways, property, water and rail.