In recent weeks Balfour Beatty has acquired two US contractors: water and wastewater specialist Fru-Con Construction from Bilfinger-Berger for £12m, and Howard S Wright for £58m. In April it paid £18m for UK energy management specialist Power Efficiency.
With no material change in trading conditions, the board said that its strategy was to “use our strong balance sheet to invest in our business in order to drive organic growth, improve operational performance and cost-effectiveness and build capability through selective acquisitions such as Howard S. Wright.”
It added: “These factors, combined with fluctuations in working capital, are expected to result in a reduction in the net cash position.”
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