Balfour Beatty investors set for huge windfall as construction giant's orders soar

Balfour Beatty has increased its dividend following a highly successful year for the construction giant.

The London-based company proposed a final dividend per share of 12.5p on Wednesday, marking a nine per cent increase from last year's 11.5p, as reported by City AM.

Basic earnings per share also climbed from 34.2p to 43.6p. Balfour Beatty is currently undertaking a multi-year share buyback programme and declared plans to repurchase £125m worth of shares in 2025.

This means shareholders can anticipate approximately £188m in returns in 2025, up from £161m in 2024. The cash returns were announced as Balfour Beatty's order book expanded to £18.4bn in 2024 and its annual pre-tax profit surged from £214m to £289m.

The contractor presently holds significant contracts at HS2's Old Oak Common section and Hinkley Point C, and is also involved in a major upgrade between Junction 10 on the M25 and the A3. On an underlying basis, annual revenue remained steady at £10bn.

CEO Leo Quinn, who is set to retire later this year, said in a statement: "We once again delivered managed profitable growth from our earnings-based businesses and healthy cash generation, while also increasing our high-quality order book."

"The Board continues to have confidence in Balfour Beatty's ongoing ability to deliver sustainable cash generation for significant shareholder returns, as evidenced by our announcement of increased dividends and share buybacks for 2025."