This morning Balfour said it would reach year-end with an order book around 20% higher at more than £20bn, driven by more than £3.5bn of new UK power-generation work and the long-awaited inclusion of £3bn of Sizewell C civils.

Revenue is expected to come in more than 5% ahead of last year’s £10bn, with UK construction and support services trading strongly, generating a 3% operating margin.

The UK’s largest contractor expects average monthly net cash to hit a record £1.2bn (2024: £766m).

New chief executive Philip Hoare said the scale of the pipeline and the quality of upcoming work gave the business a platform for another year of operational profit growth in 2026. A fresh share buyback will also start in January.

In the US, the buildings arm has surged with revenue up around 25% following 18 months of rapid pipeline conversion. Recent wins include $750m of correctional facilities and a further $400m of data-centre contracts.

Support services also powered ahead with revenue up around 15%, helped by continued growth in power transmission and new slots on National Grid’s HVDC framework and SP Energy Networks’ strategic overhead-line programme. Margins remain near the top end of the 6-8% target range.

The group has returned £189m to shareholders this year through buybacks and dividends and will restart repurchases in January ahead of announcing the full 2026 buyback at March results.