Balfour Beatty, the international infrastructure group, has reported a strong performance in its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2009.

Pre-tax profits are up 7% to £267 million compared to £249 million in 2008, while the full-year dividend is up 8% at 12.0p per share (2008: 11.1p). The company’s order book currently stands at of £14.1 billion – up from £12.8 billion in 2008.

Balfour Beatty said that the acquisition of  Parsons Brinckerhoff in October 2009 had transformed its capabilities in professional services. It had also had a particularly strong year in construction services  and good performance in support services, with £700 million of AMP5 contracts secured.

Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Ian Tyler said:

“Our business has continued to perform well and finished the year with a strong order book of £14.1 billion.

The acquisition of Parsons Brinckerhoff, one of the world’s leading professional services companies for infrastructure markets, realised a number of the Group’s long-term strategic objectives. We have created a high-quality business operating across the infrastructure lifecycle, which is uniquely placed in major markets to benefit from the long-term growth in investment in infrastructure.

There is substantial additional value in the combination of our capabilities for major customers. Increasingly, major infrastructure owners need an integrated capability from their trusted suppliers, resulting in less interface risk and greater certainty of delivery.

The breadth of our portfolio means our business is resilient. In spite of economic uncertainty, we remain confident about the prospects for the Group.”