A trading update ahead of the announcement of its interim results on 17 March revealed that the Group’s underlying trading performance has remained “in line with management’s expectations” since the trading update on 12 November 2015.

The combined Construction and Services order book at 31st December 2015 was approximately £9 billion, unchanged over the course of the year, with the potential for renewals and extensions to add another £3bn.

Most recent project wins include a £27.5m design & build office project, called Cornerstone, at Sussex Manor Business Park in Crawley. Kier’s client is Bridgecore and the building has been pre-let to Elektra, which makes radiotherapy equipment for treating cancer. The new building will tie into Elektra’s existing UK headquarters.

Kier has also been contracted to build a £14m key worker accommodation development at the Diana, Princess of Wales Hospital in Grimsby. The new building will have 124 apartments for junior doctors and 96 en suite bedrooms with shared communal spaces for student nurses.

On the house-building front, Kier’s Residential division is set to generate revenues more than 30 per cent up on last year, with approximately 2,200 completions expected for the year to 30th June 2016. Of these, roughly 850 are from Kier’s own land bank for private sale and 1,350 are social housing contracts.

Kier is preferred bidder for a £40m mixed tenure housing scheme for Birmingham Municipal Housing Trust (300 units) and a £9.5m design and build contract for 71 new homes for Leeds City Council.

The firm’s integration of Mouchel, acquired in June 2015, is “progressing well”, with the expected synergies on course to be delivered, Kier added.