Carillion said it remains on track to make further progress in 2016 after its support services division helped the firm towards a 10 per cent increase in revenue.

The construction firm today reported revenue for the six months to 30th June 2016 was £2.48bn, up from £2.25bn a year earlier.

Carillion also delivered a 24 per cent rise in pre-tax profit to £84m, with support services now contributing two-thirds of the gain. Underlying profit before tax was identical to 2015 at £84.5m while group wide margins fell from 5.1 per cent to 4.9 per cent due reduced PFI equity sales during the period.

The company also revealed it had set aside £10.5m for payouts to blacklisted workers under The Construction Workers Compensation Scheme set up by eight UK contractors.

Meanwhile finance director Richard Adam will retire at the end of the year, to be succeeded by Zafar Khan, 48, who has been group financial controller at Carillion since 2013.

Carillion chairman Philip Green said: “I am pleased to report that the Group’s first-half results are in line with our expectations, led by a strong performance in our support services business, which accounted for nearly two thirds of the group’s underlying operating profit.

“New order intake in the first half of the year has been strong and continues to reflect the success of our strategy and strength of our business model. Overall, we remain on track to make further progress in 2016.”