The contractor said new and probable order intake was down significantly from £3.4bn in the same period last year due to a pause in public sector contract awards.

But turnover for the first six months of the year jumped 21% to £2.26bn on the back of an exceptional level of contract awards in 2014.

Previous work helped to keep total secure orders around £17bn, down from £18.6bn at the end of last year.

While pre-tax profits at the construction group remained flat at £67.5m, Carillion said underlying profit had grown by 16% after taking account of substantial costs of mobilising new contracts and the expected effect of the margin in construction services trending down towards a more normal level.

Carillion’s net borrowing at the half-year rose to £200m from £177m six months earlier due to business acquisition costs and other investments rather than operating cash flow.

Carillion chairman, Philip Green, said :”I am pleased to report that Carillion has continued to perform in line with expectations, which reflects the actions we took during the economic downturn to position our businesses in markets where we can now achieve revenue growth, consistent with our targets for margins and cash flow.

“We have also made good progress with mobilising a number of major new contracts won in 2014.  Therefore, with a strong order book, a growing pipeline of contract opportunities and the prospect of market conditions continuing to improve, our expectations for 2015 and the medium term remain unchanged.”

Across the divisions, the Middle East delivered stronger profits bringing it on par with the combined UK and Canada construction services business, while support services showed further profit growth.