Carillion has attributed a fall in new first-half orders plus probable orders of £1.0 billion from £3.2 billion in 2014 to an expected pause in public sector contract awards due to the UK General Election.

However, according to the contractor’s half-yearly financial report for the six months ended 30 June 2015 published this morning, turnover for the first six months of the year rose 21% to £2.26billion, reflecting the exceptional volume of new contracts won in 2014.

Carillio said that underlying profit and earnings grew strongly, despite the substantial costs of mobilising new contracts and the expected effect of the margin in Construction services (excluding the Middle East) trending down towards a more normal level.

The group has reported a strong, high-quality order book and growing pipeline of contract opportunities, with total secure orders plus probable orders remained strong at £17.1 billion at 30 June 2015 (31 December 2014: £18.6 billion. Revenue visibility for 2015 stood at 96% at 30 June 2015 (2014: 93%), with framework contracts worth up to £2.5 billion, which are not included in orders or probable orders. Carillion’s pipeline of contract opportunities also increased to £40.5 billion (31 December 2014: £39.2 billion)

Carillion Chairman, Philip Green, commented:

"I am pleased to report that Carillion has continued to perform in line with expectations, which reflects the actions we took during the economic downturn to position our businesses in markets where we can now achieve revenue growth, consistent with our targets for margins and cash flow.  We have also made good progress with mobilising a number of major new contracts won in 2014.  Therefore, with a strong order book, a growing pipeline of contract opportunities and the prospect of market conditions continuing to improve, our expectations for 2015 and the medium term remain unchanged."