John Morgan, chief executive, said this year’s performance would be weighted towards the first half which has seen contract wins lift the order book 4% to £8.8bn.

This comprised a construction secured order book of £4.9bn, up 7% from the year-end and up 9% versus the prior year, and the regeneration secured order book of £3.9bn, which was up 1% from the year end and down 6% versus the prior year.

In a trading update this morning, Morgan said the Overbury fit-out business had enjoyed strong trading with order book and enquiry levels reported to be high.

The construction and infrastructure arm is also expected to deliver revenue growth at margins in line with targets.

But the Property Services operation margin has been impacted by disappointing contract delivery despite an expected higher level of revenue.

Morgan said: “Since the start of the year, trading has been as expected and the general market conditions coming into 2023 have continued to ease with inflation falling in certain areas.

“Based on the current visibility of workload for delivery through the remainder of the year, we’re confident of delivering a full-year performance which is in line with our expectations.”

Average daily net cash for the year so far rose to £281m against £278m for the same period a year ago.