Growth at both infrastructure and building divisions lifted revenue 21% to £819m. This improvement generated a 33% uplift in pre-tax profit to £15.6m, before costs associated with upgrades to the company’s computing system.

The improvement saw divisional operating margin edge up by two percentage points to 2.5%, putting Galliford Try on track to hit its 2026 target of 3%.

Despite continued market uncertainty, chief executive Bill Hocking said he remained confident about the short and long term due to good visibility over future revenue.

He said: “The quality of our order book gives us good sight of revenue ahead. We have 83% of revenue in place for next year and 54% for the year after that.

“This gives us a strong outlook over the duration of the Parliamentary election cycle”

Hocking said the firm had enjoyed a cash inflow over the first half taking average month-end cash to £150m.

“The procurement delays experienced by our Building business in 2022 have ended and the contracts awarded in 2023 are now on site, resulting in increased revenue in Building,” he added.

The building business made good progress in private rented and affordable housing, and was recently appointed to the £3.2bn Communities & Housing Investment Consortium (CHIC) new build development framework for affordable homes.

Building currently has an order book of £2.2bn (H1 2023: £2.1bn), including 27% in Education, 31% in Defence and Custodial, 15% in Facilities Management and 4% in Health.

The Infrastructure order book is also in a strong position at £1.5bn (H1 2023: £1.4bn), comprising £562m in highways and £894m in environment.

He said: “Our Environment business continues to benefit from high levels of AMP7 spending by our water sector clients.”

On highways, Galliford Try recently secured a place for projects valued between £20m-£175m on the Southern
Generation 5 Civil Engineering, Highways and Transportation Collaborative Framework 2024-2028, managed by Hampshire County Council.

Hocking said: “We enter the second half of the year with strong momentum and confidence for the financial year to 30 June 2024 and the longer term. ”