Costain’s order book reached a record level of £4.2bn for the year ended 31 December 2018, the firm announced in a trading update issued this morning.
That was an increase of £300m on the £3.9bn worth of orders it had racked up at the same time the year before.
Meanwhile, its preferred bidder position stands at around £600m (up from £400m on31 December 2017).
The announcement came ahead of the firm’s full-year results, which are expected on 6 March 2019.
Costain said it continued “to perform well” in the second half of its financial year and expects to deliver full-year results in line with expectations.
The company has been working to transform itself into a “smart infrastructure solutions company”, entering into long-term strategic relationships and providing what it called “integrated technology-enabled services”.
Costain also revealed that it finished the year with a “strong” net cash position of over £110m, as compared to £177.7m on 31 December 2017, with the reduction from last year’s high level due to the timing of receipts in that period.
Throughout the year the group had a positive net cash position with an average month-end net cash balance of around £77m, compared to £96.7m in 2017.
Chief executive Andrew Wyllie said: “This has been another year of progress for Costain. The benefits of our integrated offering, long-term strategic relationships with our clients and strong balance sheet position us well for the future and the significant opportunity we see across our rapidly-changing end markets.”
