In a trading update covering the period to December 8, the company said it responded “swiftly and decisively” to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 pandemic, protecting the group’s expert capability and financial strength, whilst continuing to deliver for all stakeholders.

All the group’s sites are open and operating safely in accordance with local regulations.

The year-end order book is expected to be around £17 billion, significantly higher than 2019 (£14.3bn). The increase has been driven by the award of Notice to Proceed on HS2 in April.

Despite delays caused by COVID-19, in the second half of the year, the group has continued to win material infrastructure projects across all its geographies. Key successes include over £1bn (Balfour Beatty share) of work secured on the Three Runway project at Hong Kong Airport, Oak Hill Parkway in the US and the M25 and M3 Smart Motorway Alliance contracts in the UK.

Full-year group revenue is expected to be in line with the prior year (2019: £8.4bn) while group profit from operations for the full year is forecast to be in line with the board’s expectations.

Cash performance continues to be strong. Full year average monthly net cash is now forecast to be around £500 million, ahead of the previous guidance of £430m to £460m (2019: £325m).

In October, the group successfully concluded the extension of its £375m committed revolving credit facility, which now extends to October 2023. As at 8 December 2020, this facility is undrawn. Following the redemption of the group’s preference shares in July 2020 (£112m), Balfour Beatty has no further debt repayments until 2023.

Since the start of the Build to Last programme, Balfour Beatty has focused its geographic and operational footprint while investing significantly in capability, innovation and standard systems and processes. This, the group said, has created a scalable business model which together with the increasing order book gives the board confidence that it will deliver profitable managed growth and cash generation on a sustainable basis.

Given the performance, the board intends to pay a final dividend at the group’s full-year results. In addition, as a first step in a programme of returning capital to shareholders, Balfour Beatty intends to commence an initial £50m share buyback programme from January 2021.

Full details of the Group’s capital allocation framework will be set out at Balfour Beatty’s full-year results on 10 March 2021. This will cover the Board’s assessment of the optimal balance sheet structure for the Group, sustainable dividend policy and future capital return programme.

Leo Quinn, Balfour Beatty group chief executive, said: “As the impact of COVID-19 reduces, we are seeing positive momentum across the business. Ours is an industry that underpins economies: going forward, it will help to drive recovery, including new jobs, new skills and a greener future.

“We look towards 2021 with a strong order book, a robust balance sheet and having maintained our expert capability. These attributes provide confidence that Balfour Beatty is well positioned to deliver value through profitable managed growth in both the medium and long term.”