This saw Renew take a £9.9m non-cash hit from write-down of assets. Forefront, which turned over £20m, was offloaded to £30m turnover Kent-based road surfacing and reinstatement contractor Ferns Group for a £1.

At the main Renew engineering services arm, revenue was in line with management expectations, this saw group revenue slightly down at £262m (£282m) with adjusted operating profit at £12.9m.

Adjusted operating margins rose from 4.6% to 4.9%.

The latest results did not include the £80m acquisition in May of rail contracting business QTS.

David Forbes, Chairman of Renew Holdings, said: “This period has seen Renew deliver another set of interim results in line with management expectations.

“The group’s strategy remains to develop its engineering services business both organically and through selective acquisitions which was demonstrated by the post period end acquisition of QTS, positioning the group to continue to generate shareholder value.”