This improvement more than offset lower returns from its building arm to almost triple pre-tax profit to £78m despite revenue slipping back to £1.27bn (2023: £1.33bn).

Operating profit roared back to £54.1m (2023: £6.3m) as margins soared from 0.5% to 4.3%.

Skanska said it had benefitted from stronger project performance across long-term FM contracts and key infrastructure schemes like HS2, backed by tighter commercial controls, improved collaboration, and digital delivery tools rolled out across the business.

Headcount at the business was down 6% to 3,240.

Skanska ended the year with £472m in cash, up nearly a fifth on the previous year and generating interest income of £26m on cash balances.

The results were also boosted by a one-off accounting adjustment relating to a previously overestimated cost on a legacy project in 2023.

In 2024, the business booked £958m in new orders, helping maintain a strong forward workload heading into 2025.

“Despite wider economic and geopolitical uncertainty, we remain in a strong position,” the company said. “We continue to work proactively with both our customers and supply chain to monitor and mitigate headwinds in commodity and energy costs to protect our financial performance in the short, medium, and long term.”

Major wins for the building arm in London included £197m contract for South Molton in Mayfair to deliver 24,800 sq m of new office and retail space. It also picked up a £105m job at 7 Millbank, Westminster, involving complex heritage façade restoration and high-end workspace fit-out