The UK’s biggest construction firm Balfour Beatty has reported growth in the first six months of the year, on the back of strong growth in markets such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Hong Kong.
The contractor, which built the Olympic Aquatics Centre, was hit by cuts in public spending which led to the cancellation of many large projects, weakening its home market. However, the firm said its professional services operations registered higher growth regions in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
“Volumes are growing in the Middle East, particularly in Qatar where we are programme manager to both The Roads and Drainage Project for Ashghal and The Qatar Rail Project for Qatar Railway Company,” Balfour Beatty said.
“We are also active on projects in other markets in the region such as Saudi Arabia where we were recently awarded the contract to act as comprehensive owner’s engineer on a power generation plant for the Saudi Electric Company,” the company added.