Accounts logged recently at Companies House show that turnover at the privately owned contractor increased 38% to 拢409.6m from 拢296.3m.
The results mark a turnaround in the company鈥檚 fortunes. McAlpine suffered a contracting loss of 拢1.5m in 1996. It returned to profit in 1997.
The group says the key to its recent performance was the procurement of some large PFI projects during 1998, which helped it secure 拢548m of new work, an increase of 68% on the previous year.
The annual report also says that almost two-thirds of the contractor鈥檚 work now includes design responsibility, saying 鈥渢his reflects our commitment to integrated teamwork, taking responsibility and adding value to the design process鈥�.
Construction accounted for 71% of work carried out in 1998. Civil engineering made up the other 29% of workload.
Its more high-profile civils contracts included two tunnelling projects on the Jubilee Line Extension for London Underground. It also built the newly opened North Greenwich Station on the line.
A large proportion of the firm鈥檚 civil engineering work came from PFI transport projects, including road works on the A19 in the North-east, the A74/M6 in southern Scotland and a 28 km tram system in Croydon, Surrey.
Much of the company鈥檚 building business was for repeat clients, including Nissan, Siemens, Royal Bank of Scotland and the Post Office.
The company says that work in hand for 1999 is 鈥渁t an encouraging level鈥�.
In recent years, McAlpine鈥檚 workload has been boosted by a number of high-profile millennium projects, including the Millennium Dome.
According to the annual report, the dome is 鈥渙n schedule and within budget鈥�. It says that, despite the project throwing up 鈥渘ew engineering and logistical challenges within an exacting timescale鈥�, it will come in on time and meet its 拢758m budget.
Other millennium projects include new south and west stands at Hampden Stadium in Glasgow and the Eden project to build giant tropical glasshouses in Cornwall.
McAlpine has nominated Paddy Walker-Taylor non-executive director of occupancy services specialist Interior Services Group, of which it is the largest single shareholder with 17% of its ordinary share capital.
Walker-Taylor, finance director of Newarthill, Robert McAlpine鈥檚 holding company, replaces Vince Christie at ISG. Christie resigned last week.
