In a trading update for the period from 1 July 2018 to date, the contractor said that margins in its construction and infrastructure division continued to improve with the business now expected to achieve at least 2% in the second half.

Consistent with Morgan Sindall’s continued focus on contract selectivity and quality of earnings, the group’s committed order book as at 30 September 2018 was £3.4 billion, down 11% from the year end position (down 5% from the half year), whilst the regeneration & development pipeline of £3.3bn was up 2% from the year end (down 2% from the half year).

Morgan Sindall said its fit out division has also continued to perform well and is on track to deliver its expected revenue and profit growth performance for the year.

As at 30 September 2018, fit out’s order book was £470 million, down 13% from the same time last year and down 6% from the year end. Of the total, £275m is for 2019 and beyond. The equivalent amount at 30 September 2017 which related to 2018 and beyond was £355m.

Additionally, the average daily net cash for the full year is now expected to be in excess of £90m, ahead of previous guidance.