The firm revealed this morning that the anticipated final cost of its floating jetty job and separate living accommodation and infrastructure project at the naval base had risen to nearly £47m.

The expected hit is £7.5m more than first highlighted at the half-year. Chairman John Morgan reported that one of the projects had now been settled, with the extra provision expected from the cost of settling the remaining legacy project.

Across the group a strong performance from the fit-out division helped to lift adjusted pre-tax profits 36% to £34m on turnover up 7% at £2.39bn in 2015.

Fit-out division profits soared 60% to £24m delivering a margin of 4%. But poor performance at the construction arm in London and the South East saw profits only creep up to £3.8m from £3.5m.

New business activity in the region was limited to mainly frameworks or bidding opportunities involving Morgan Sindall’s investments or urban regeneration operations.

The group’s committed order book was ahead 6% to £2.8bn, compared to the prior year end with fit-out (order book up 41%), construction & Infrastructure (order book up 4%) and affordable housing (order book up 4%) all contributing to the increase.

Morgan said: “We are pleased with the year-end result which is evidence of the strategic and operational progress made across the group during the year and this, together with a positive outlook going into 2016, has enabled us to raise the final dividend.

“Fit-out has performed very strongly, with record revenue levels coupled with significant margin growth, while Urban Regeneration has again delivered a strong profit performance thereby reinforcing our long-term strategic investment in our regeneration activities.”

He added that while construction and infrastructure division margins remained low, the second half of the year had seen an improvement as a result of the considerable progress made in closing out its older and lower margin construction contracts in London and the South.

Morgan said: “Looking ahead to 2016, the positive momentum across the group is expected to continue.

“A strong level of performance from fit-out is anticipated, together with further strategic progress in Urban Regeneration and profit growth in Affordable Housing, driven by its mixed-tenure regeneration activities.”