Balfour Beatty (LSE:BBY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call

0:00 Good morning, everyone. I'm Philip Haw, Group Chief Executive of Balfour Beatty, and it gives me great pleasure to welcome you to our half year results announcement for 2026. I'm joined today by Myles Westcott, our new CFO, who's been with us just a few months but is already having an incredible impact on our business. And I know we'll all look forward to hearing from Myles a little bit later as he gives us the detail of the results announcement. But before we start, what a fantastic video. I just love watching images like that of Balfour Beatty because it really typifies the fantastic people that we have within our organisation, the depth and breadth of quality that we possess. It goes to the complex projects that we're delivering around the world and of course it goes to the pride that we have in terms of delivering for our customers. So I wanted to start with a huge thank you to all of our Balfour Beatty colleagues. And so for those of you that are listening now or in the future, thank you so much for your hard work and your commitment because it's down to you that I'm able to stand here today and talk about our company and the future. So thank you.

1:10 So now let's get into the first half year results. And look, I am really pleased with our first half performance. We've delivered profitable growth and strong cash performance across the business. As I talked about last March, anticipated the conclusion of The U. S. Monitor Ship and that happened as planned on the June 6. So a really important milestone for our company that allows us now to really get on and focus on delivery for the servicemen and women of The U. S. What that means overall when you look at it from a margin perspective is that our profit from operations in our earnings based businesses increased to 2.9%, up from 2.2% in the previous half year. So when you carry forward that strong first half performance and look to our outlook for the full year 2026, we've slightly upgraded our guidance on PFO, which you'll have seen within our numbers.

2:07 Now of course, GBP 200,000,000 share buyback that I announced in March is well on track. And so overall, we look to return GBP $267,000,000 to our shareholders over the course of this year. Now turning to the future and thinking about momentum in the organization, our order book remains substantial at GBP 23,000,000,000 and I'll talk some more about the details of that in a moment. But this gives us really strong visibility into the future and confidence about where we're heading as a business. And then finally, we're well positioned in the growth markets that we've selected. And again, I'll give you some more color on that. So I'm really pleased with the first half performance. It's been strong. It's allowed us to slightly upgrade our guidance for the full year.

2:53 And of course, I'm really positive about the momentum that we carry into the future. So let me talk about those markets for a moment. Now of course, we operate across a number of geographies and different market areas, but we've specifically selected these markets for the future growth of our business because either we can see significant scale up opportunity or there are large resilient markets like UK transport. But we're focused around UK energy both on power transmission and on energy generation, in UK defense, UK transport and in U. S. Buildings. And we've seen some really good positive momentum in those markets in the first half of the year. So I just wanted to share some of the highlights of that with you. So firstly, within UK power transmission, momentum continues to build and we've shared this graph with you on the right hand or left hand side of the screen before and it's one I really like because not only does it show where that growth is going to happen between now and 2030, but it also indicates that we have 25% market share.

4:00 And what we see is and what we aspire to do is to maintain that market share as that market continues to grow. And the first half has been really positive from that perspective. So twenty four percent growth in revenue year on year. Our order book now stands at GBP 2,100,000,000, that's up from GBP 1,600,000,000 at the end of last year. And that pipeline of opportunities where work has been awarded but we're not yet in the construction phase remains at GBP 6,000,000,000 to 8,000,000,000. So If you remember before I described the Part A and the Part B of that works where Part A is all about design development and getting to the right cost profile for those works. Part B is when it goes into construction and enters our order book. And so when I talk about momentum, we've seen that now begin to move. So in the first half of the year, we were awarded Netherton Hub with SFE, that's a GBP $325,000,000 scheme, which was in Part A and has now transitioned into Part B.

5:01 We've also been awarded a new substation on top of the work we are already doing at Bramford to Twinstead for National Grid. So we're doing the overhead lines. We've now been awarded the substation work that goes along side that and we've secured further routes to market through a new framework with National Grid that will take us into the future. So there's I think really positive momentum underpinned by the further wins that we've had in this growth market.

5:29 Turning now to UK Defence. We are really well differentiated in this space and I'll outline some of that in a moment. The key thing that's happened in the first half of this year is the publication of something called the Defence Investment Plan. The Defence Investment Plan does a few things. Firstly, it sets out with greater certainty the level of investment in UK defence infrastructure over the course of the period from now to 2030. So you can see the percentage of increase in spending there that happens And really what that does is it drives greater certainty for us in terms of the opportunities that are there in the market. But it went beyond that and also then set some guidance around what it looks like through to 2035 and an increase in UK defence spending to 3.5% of GDP.

6:16 So again, this is positive from our perspective because it gives a longer term view of an already important investment market. And then additionally on top of that, I think it pointed to a number of things. So the first one of those is that having defence as a UK growth engine. So using that investment to create new jobs, to think about not just defence as a national security point but also as something that's going to drive economic growth across The UK. UK capability is being prioritized and again this is good news for Balfour Beatty because as a UK domiciled business I think that allows us to really think about the team GB approach to delivering defence in The UK. And clearly, be working closely with our clients in this space to really build out those deep and trusted relationships.

7:06 Finally, speed of delivery is important isn't it? It's about being able to build on the programme as it stands and deliver that into the future. Procurement reform that supports that I think is incredibly important. Now alongside that, I think we are incredibly well differentiated in this market. Our strong track record, our extensive capability that we have, our ability to transfer skills from the complex nuclear environment into defence I think sets us apart. And then when you take into account the recent investments that we've made both in security cleared staff and in a ring fenced IT system that allows us to operate in that defence space, I think we're incredibly well positioned. And then finally, having a robust balance sheet, a strong relationship with UK government and the fact that we're a UK domicile company, I think puts us in a great position to really capitalise on the growth that we see in the defence space.

8:04 So larger market, improved policy environment that should speed up delivery and momentum building across the programmes of work in the defence space. Turning now to The U. S, I just wanted to touch on a few factors and I might cast your minds back to March when we talked about some new growth areas that we saw within The U. S. Overall. But look, it's been a great start to the year for U. S. Construction. Our revenue is up 19% on the half year 2025. And we've really begun to do something that I think is critically important in that market, which is about leveraging the great capability we have in one area or with one customer and taking that and spreading it across The U. S. So as an example, we've been targeting Wells Fargo, the banking group in The U. S. Where we've had a twenty year relationship working with them and we're now on a national framework with Wells Fargo, which has meant that we've now started delivering work for them in each of the geographic areas that we operate in.

9:03 So really simple, a customer we know well, doing work across The U. S, we're now working with them across The U. S.

9:10 In particular, I wanted to highlight the aviation and data center market. So I spoke to you last time about those being important market verticals for us, important because we've got great capability, but also because we see significant growth in the medium to long term. So the aviation market, 140,000,000,000 worth of construction between now and 2029. We have a great track record delivering across seven airports in The U. S. And in the first half of the year, we won another significant mandate with Raleigh Durham Airport for $361,000,000 and so we're now focused on that as a vertical within The U. S. Market. Data centers, I mean you can't pick up anything these days and not read about data centers and what's happening. Data centers are not new for us.

9:57 We've been working with key clients for over twenty years delivering data centers. But actually, we're putting increasing focus on, again, taking a relationship and a customer that we know well and working with them across the breadth of The U. S. So we made great progress in the first half of the year, a $350,000,000 set of wins, taking and expanding our capability beyond the Northwest into Virginia and we secured a further $1,000,000,000 worth of work that's been awarded but not yet contracted that we're in the process of moving through into our order book. So I see significant momentum occurring in that market overall. So what I wanted to do there was just give you a snapshot of some of the great momentum that we're seeing in the organisation in the first half of the year.

10:42 But what I'm going do now is hand over to Miles and let him take you through the details of the financials.

10:53 Thanks very much Philip. Good morning everyone. I'm delighted to be here at such an exciting time for Balfour Beatty. Since joining in May I'll spend much of my time getting to know the business meeting colleagues from across the group. Even in the short time I've been in role it's been clear to see the depth of expertise we have delivering such an impressive portfolio of complex projects together with an embedded culture of disciplined governance and risk management. Whilst I will of course bring a fresh perspective I've joined the business with strong foundations and real momentum. I'm very much looking forward to getting to know Balfour Beatty even more in the coming months and working closely with Philip and the wider team to deliver our next chapter of profitable growth which leads me nicely onto the financials and the strong first half results which I'll now take you through.

11:50 So headline numbers. Revenue grew by 8% to £5,600,000,000 which was 10% increase if you exclude foreign exchange movements. This was largely due to increased volumes in US buildings and UK power transmission. Profit from the earnings based businesses increased by 42% to £153,000,000 The support services grew strongly driven by power and U. S. Construction returned a profit compared to the loss we reported a year ago. Group profit for the period increased by 44% which when combined with the effect of the ongoing share buyback program resulted in earnings per share increasing by 51% to 21.7p per share.

12:41 As usual our interim dividend is one third of last year's full dividend which equates to 4.7p, 12% increase. The order book increased slightly in the period to £22,900,000,000 and the directors valuation of the infrastructure portfolio remained around 1,100,000,000.

13:03 Cash performance was once again very strong and included significant working capital increases in The U. S. And in Power. As a result net cash stands at £1,700,000,000 and average net cash for the period was 1,600,000,000. So overall positive first half and I'll take you through each of the elements in a bit more detail now. So starting with construction services which is much improved compared to the first half of last year. Operational performance in UK construction was strong in the first half delivering PFO margin of 3.4%. This represents improvement of 50 basis points after you exclude the one off insurance recovery booked in the first half of last year.

13:51 In The U. S. Buildings continued to deliver profitable growth driving a 19% increase in US construction revenues. And in civils the business delivered a much reduced loss with the Texas Highway project which has been a drag on profitability expected to achieve final closeout shortly. As a result, U. S. Construction delivered GBP 22,000,000 of PFO compared to a first half loss in the prior year. At Gammond, revenue dropped by 6% on a constant currency basis due to the reduced activity at Hong Kong International Airport where Terminal 2 was recently opened. Margin percentage was lower than prior year which is largely due to timing as we progressed commercial closeouts on a small number of projects.

14:42 Okay moving to support services which has once again shown healthy revenue growth and achieved strong margins. Power transmission volumes have continued to grow driving 10% increase in support services revenue in the period. And moving to PFO, the divisions delivered a very strong first half performance growing profit to £66,000,000 with a 9.1% margin. This includes margin improvement across both power and transportation and also a change in mix with power now contributing a higher proportion of the divisions volumes. It's also worth noting we're seeing less seasonality in Support Services than in recent years which is likely to lead to a more even split between the first and second half profit this year.

15:33 Okay to the order book which we've maintained at around GBP 23,000,000,000. This gives us really strong visibility over the next few years, allows us to plan ahead and invest confidently. As Philip mentioned we've secured the Neverton Hub contract with SSE which will be delivered by The UK Construction Division. The ability to provide earthworks and civil infrastructure capabilities is a great example of the Group's differentiated end to end offering which sets us apart in the sector. The US is slightly down mainly due to civils where we're commencing delivery of the three highway projects announced in recent periods. And in US buildings new secured orders include the data centers and aviation contracts which Philip mentioned earlier.

16:26 GAM and order book increased by 15% including the contract award for a railway station in Hong Kong's northern metropolis development area. We expect this to be a strong demand channel for GAMMON in the medium term with related projects already making up 30% of the order book at half year. Finally within Support Services we secured a £315,000,000 highways maintenance contract in Warwickshire. In addition to the order book we continue to have a significant pipeline of further work for which we've been selected including the 6,000,000,000 to £8,000,000,000 of power projects which we're currently in the design phases of. We expect to convert the majority of these schemes to order book in the next eighteen months as we move into the construction phase.

17:16 Moving now to our infrastructure investments business where the important news in the first half was the conclusion of the monitorship. The pre disposal loss which was in line with the prior year was once again primarily due to costs incurred in relation to that monitorship. We also disposed of two U. S. Assets in the first half both of which were completed at or above the directors' valuation. And now moving to that directors' valuation of the investments portfolio and taking the bridge from left to right we invested £15,000,000 in the period in new and existing projects. Sales proceeds from the two disposals totaled £12,000,000 and we received £15,000,000 in distributions from the portfolio.

18:03 The unwind of the discount increased the valuation by £36,000,000 and the foreign exchange movement was a £12,000,000 benefit as the U. S. Dollar strengthened. After those movements the directors valuation of the portfolio is maintained at around GBP1.1 billion.

18:22 Okay looking at cash now, another area where performance has been strong throughout the first half. With average cash in the period of GBP 1,600,000,000 and a closing balance of GBP 1,700,000,000. And let me touch on four of the items here to add a bit more color. Firstly operating cash flow of GBP 151,000,000 represents strong underlying cash conversion across the group and is an important focus for all of our businesses. And moving to working capital. As you know for most of the work we do we tend to be paid in advance and as a result we have a strong negative working capital position. This grew in the first half largely due to new project starts in The US together with the rising demand in power.

19:11 For pensions as we set out back in March and as agreed with the trustees of our largest pension fund we've made a £30,000,000 contribution with no further contributions expected. And finally the share buyback program is progressing well. We're on track to complete the full £200,000,000 by the year end. Okay finally turning to outlook for the full year where we've updated our guidance in three months again very strong and included significant working capital increases in The US and in Power as a result net cash stands at £1,700,000,000 and average net cash for the period was 1,600,000,000 So overall positive first half and I'll take you through each of the elements in a bit more detail now.

20:01 So starting with construction services which is much improved compared to the first half of last year. Operational performance in UK construction was strong in the first half delivering PFO margin of 3.4% This represents improvement of 50 basis points after you exclude the one off insurance recovery booked in the first half of last year In The US buildings continued to deliver profitable growth driving a 19% increase in US construction revenues and in civils the business delivered a much reduced loss with the Texas Highway project which has been a drag on profitability expected to achieve final closeout shortly As a result US construction delivered CHF22 million of PFO compared to a first half loss in the prior year At Gammon revenue dropped by 6% on a constant currency basis due to the reduced activity at Hong Kong International Airport where Terminal 2 has recently opened Margin percentage was lower than prior year which is largely due to timing as we progress commercial closeouts on a small number of projects Okay moving to support services which has once again shown healthy revenue growth and achieved strong margins Power transmission volumes have continued to grow driving 10% increase in support services revenue in the period Moving to PFO

21:33 the division has delivered a very strong first half performance growing profit to £66,000,000 with a 9.1% margin This includes margin improvement across both power and transportation and also a change in mix with power now contributing a higher proportion of the division's volumes It's also worth noting we're seeing less seasonality in support services than in recent years which is likely to lead to a more even split between the first and second half profit this year Okay to the order book which we've maintained at around £23,000,000,000 This gives us really strong visibility over the next few years allows us to plan ahead and invest confidently As Philip mentioned we've secured the Netherton Hub contract with SSE which will be delivered by the UK construction division.

22:29 The ability to provide earthworks and civil infrastructure capabilities is a great example of the group's differentiated end to end offering which sets us apart in the sector The US is slightly down mainly due to civils where we're commencing delivery of the three highway projects announced in recent periods and in U. S. Buildings new secured orders include the data centers and aviation contracts which Philip mentioned earlier Gamma order book increased by 15% including the contract award for a railway station in Hong Kong's northern metropolis development area We expect this to be a strong demand channel for GAMMON in the medium term with related projects already making up 30% of the order book at half year

23:19 Finally within support services we secured a £315,000,000 highways maintenance contract in Warwickshire In addition to the order book we continue to have a significant pipeline of further work for which we've been selected including the 6,000,000,000 to £8,000,000,000 of power projects which we're currently in the design phases of We expect to convert the majority of these schemes to order book in the next eighteen months as we move into the construction phase

23:49 Moving now to our infrastructure investments business where the important news in the first half was the conclusion of the monitorship The pre disposal loss which was in line with the prior year was once again primarily due to costs incurred in relation to that monitorship We also disposed of two US assets in the first half both of which were completed at or above the directors valuation And now moving to that directors valuation of the investments portfolio and taking the bridge from left to right we invested £15,000,000 in the period in new and existing projects sales proceeds from the two disposals totaled 12,000,000 and we received 15,000,000 in distributions from the portfolio

24:36 The unwind of the discount increased the valuation by £36,000,000 and the foreign exchange movement was a £12,000,000 benefit as the U. S. Dollar strengthened. After those movements the directors' valuation of the portfolio is maintained at around £1,100,000,000 Okay looking at cash now another area where performance has been strong throughout the first half with average cash in the period of £1,600,000,000 and a closing balance of GBP 1,700,000,000 and let me touch on four of the items here to add a bit more color

25:14 Firstly operating cash flow of GBP 151,000,000 represents strong underlying cash conversion across the group and is an important focus for all of our businesses Moving to working capital, as you know for most of the work we do we tend to be paid in advance and as a result we have a strong negative working capital position This grew in the first half largely due to new project starts in The US together with the rising demand in power

25:44 For pensions as we set out back in March and as agreed with the trustees of our largest pension fund we've made a £30,000,000 contribution with no further contributions expected and finally the share buyback program is progressing well we're on track to complete the full 200,000,000 by the year end. Okay finally turning to outlook for the full year where we've updated our guidance in three areas For the earnings based businesses given the strong start to the year we're now expecting to deliver low double digit PFO growth which is slightly ahead of our previous guidance No change in our guidance for infrastructure investments

26:27 and for net finance income given the strong cash position we're increasing our guidance to a range of £35,000,000 to £40,000,000. No change to the expected P and L charge which will be close to statutory rates. And finally cash. Following the very strong first half we're upgrading the guidance for average net cash to a range of GBP 1.5 to £1,700,000,000 In summary, we've had an encouraging first half of the year in terms of both profit and cash which when combined with our strong order book and momentum in our growth markets gives me confidence in the group achieving the guidance set out today. With that, I'll hand you back to Philip. So obviously, we're pleased with that first half performance. But what I wanted to do now is just spend a few moments talking about future momentum and how we see the development of Balfour Beatty and the unlocking of that next chapter of growth.

27:32 So firstly, guess to start, just to remind you of our strong and diversified portfolio as a group. So our focus on our core geographies in The UK, The U. S. And in Asia, The real sense of driving growth across those focused growth markets that we're operating in UK Energy, UK Defence, UK Transport and U. S. Buildings. And then the new profitable growth framework that we put in place under Evolve, Energise and Explore.

28:00 But I guess what I wanted to particularly pick out through here is the end to end capability, which I think is a real differentiator for us as an organisation. The ability to bring design and engineering through project management into construction management on into construction and then on to O and M underpinned by our ability to bring project finance to those key projects I think is something that really sets us apart from the competition. And as we grow and develop, we look to strengthen those connections across that part of our organization to enable us to get really close to our customers and help them deliver their demands as they move forward. Then of course the whole thing is underpinned then isn't it by the strength of our order book at 23,000,000,000 and our investments portfolio at GBP one point one billion.

28:48 So I think overall this really positions us to grow well into the future with lots of momentum to come in terms of the value of our business. But let me just talk to you a little bit more detail about the profitable growth framework and what this means in terms of long creation for our stakeholders. Firstly, as a reminder, evolve, energise and explore. Evolve is all about strengthening the core of our business. It's about making sure that we're driving margin

29:18 improvement across every aspect of our organisation. It's about making sure that the robust governance processes that we have in place help us drive operational excellence from the selection, the winning and then the delivery of the projects that are in our care. And of course it's about advancing our people strategy, making sure that we can attract and retain the best talent that this industry has to offer. Turning to energise, this is all about accelerating profitable growth. We've picked a number of key areas there. Firstly, for me this is about really being close to our customers, understanding their demands, making sure that we're agile enough to be able to respond to that. The deeper those relationships are, I think the better our business will be.

30:05 It's absolutely about driving growth in The US and I'll come on to that in a moment and then accelerating growth in those UK growth markets that we've indicated. And then finally Explore is about shaping what's next. It's about scanning that horizon. It's thinking about technology and adjacencies that will enable us to grow faster and as stronger as an organisation. Of course you've got to measure all this don't you? In terms of how we're looking at that from a long term value creation perspective, at the forefront will always be safety. It's about returning everyone home safe at the end of every day. We have a big responsibility around sustainability and where our clients demand that bringing the the best sustainable solutions that we can to the projects that we are operating.

30:52 It's absolutely about being focused on our customers and recognizing that their feedback to us is important in terms of how we shape our business into the future. And of course being an employer of choice, as I said our ability to attract and retain talent is the future of our company and therefore incredibly important that we get this right so we can bring the best people to the best projects to support our customers. Finally, think if we get all of that right then actually the outcome will be that we will drive and continue to drive profitable growth across the organisation. So we've made real momentum on this programme in the first half of the year and I just wanted to highlight some of the areas that we are focused on. So the first one is under Evolve, strengthening the core is all about driving margin improvement and we have plans progressing in every aspect of our business and each of our functions in terms of unlocking that future margin potential in our business.

31:49 You would have seen that earlier this year, I reshaped our UK operations to be really focused on those growth markets and of course the customers that we serve in each of those growth markets. So it's about getting that focus in terms of how we'll drive the business forward into the future. I've also invested significantly in leadership capability. Not only is this promoting people from within the organization, it's about new hires into our company and it's fundamentally thinking about how we support the training and development of our key leaders. So I've launched a new executive leadership development programme in conjunction with London Business School and MIT, which is all about upskilling and upgrading our leaders to be able to best support the markets that we're operating in.

32:34 Then finally and something that's really close to my heart is the development of a One Balfour Beatty culture. This is all about taking and evolving our culture to the next level where we're collaborating super effectively across the company. We're able to bring the best of Balfour Beatty to our customers wherever they are in the world. I think this will have important ramifications for how we grow the business into the future. On energize, it really is about getting close to our customers and putting customer first in terms of how we deliver. We have a new program, a global program going on across our business that's really thinking about how we get laser focused on our customers. And then finally, over the first part of the year, we've been working on an accelerated U. S. Growth plan, which will enable us to grow in those areas we're already operating in as well as focusing on a number of market verticals, which we've already described.

33:31 And then finally on Explore, the shaping what's next. We've made an investment of £10,000,000 in Pylabs. So this is all about connecting new technology that's going to help us drive productivity and efficiency at the frontline on the projects we serve. I think this is a really exciting development for Balfour Beatty because the way that we connect people, data and technology into the future will be key to driving those productivity and efficiency gains that our customers need. And then finally, we've begun to assess priorities across The UK and The US in terms of adjacencies that will help strengthen our market position. Overall, I think we're making great momentum. Evolve Energise and Explore has landed well and truly in our organization It's fundamentally all about creating long term value for all of our stakeholders.

34:25 So let me now summarise where we are. We have a really powerful platform for growth demonstrated through the strong first half momentum we have in the business and the slightly upgraded guidance that we've given for the second half of the year, but well beyond that I think in terms of the momentum we have in the organization. Our order book is significant and of high quality and we're really well positioned in the growing markets that we've chosen because of their long term growth potential and the ability to bring our great depth of expertise to those customers. We've absolutely retained the disciplined governance processes that have enabled us and afforded us the opportunity to grow and our robust balance sheet along with our consistent capital allocation framework can give you certainty about where the company is headed.

35:15 And then finally under Evolve, Energise and Explore we really do have fantastic momentum into the future. So when I take all of those things together I have a high degree of confidence in our ability to create long term value and sustainable returns for all of our shareholders and stakeholders. So thank you very much Miles and Al. Miles and I now look forward to your questions. Hello. It's Miles. Right. So we're gonna start in the room. We do actually have some questions on the iPad as well. Do Okay. Great. IPad, then we'll go to the phone. So if I could ask you to put your hand up and wait for the mic to get to you, and then get going. Thank you. Thanks. Ainsley Lammo from Investec. Just two for me please. Wondered if you'd when we look at the kind of support service margin over 9%, is that sustainable from here on out? Is it the mix has improved and therefore we should expect that for the full year and into next?

36:11 And then secondly with The U. S. Monstership kind of finished now when you look at that U. S. Military asset it's quite a big chunk of investment portfolio. What's your view on that? If you were to sell it would you recycle it into more investments or any other options you think about there? Yes certainly perhaps if I take the monitor question first and come back to you on support services. Just in terms of the monitorship, ultimately our main goal firstly was to end the monitorship and so we're obviously pleased to have done that. I think where we are now, it's really important that we embed and sustain what we've done, in terms of improving the quality of the business. Our focus remains on delivering a great service for the American servicemen and women that live in those properties.

36:57 That's our immediate focus. Okay and on the support services margin. We're delighted with the strong start to the year nine point one percent is an excellent performance which was actually margin increase in both the power and the transportation divisions within support services but going forward yeah I think yeah the momentum we've got will continue whether we'll stay at 9.1% by the full year I'm not so sure but we'll get close to 9%. Thanks. Johnny Kubra from Deutsche Numis. Can I ask a follow-up question on Power?

37:42 As you move from Part A to Part B on these contracts, how will the terms and conditions change and the risk that you take on that? Yes, certainly. So obviously this is a well trodden path and actually one of the things that we're really keen on is this model because what happens during Part A is that we're absolutely an intrinsic part of the design and development of those projects. That means that by the time we come to submit the final price for those works that's something we have a high degree of confidence in. We really welcome the model and progressing with our clients on that. Thanks very much. On US civils, I think you said Myles that it delivered a much reduced loss in the first half, still loss making.

38:35 Can we take it that buildings is doing a 2% management fee margin, on a run rate basis? I think between, civils and buildings we had a big step up in performance from the first half of last year to first half of this year. You'll recall the Texas Highway project has been a drag on profitability so that's got us to where we are now. I think between the two divisions, we would expect a pickup in that margin as we approach the full year. And yes, U. S. Buildings are long term. We've talked about it before 1.5% to 2% is where should end up. Thanks very much. And last one for me is just on the 3Es and exploring adjacencies. Could this mean adding an additional growth market to your existing ones? And can that be done organically or do you think that would involve acquisitions?

39:29 Yes. Mean look our absolute focus is on organic growth and I think you've seen the momentum that we believe we can see in those markets and those chosen growth markets moving forward. So that's our priority. Rob Plc, Berenberg. Thanks for the presentation. Three questions from me all in The U. S. I guess, firstly, following up from Johnny's question, could you just help us frame the longer term margin dynamics in The U. S. After, I guess, moving away from sales and towards buildings, principally in terms of, I guess, the risk taken on in that 1.5% to 2% building margin and how you manage that? And secondly, U. S. Data center market, any indication on, I guess, the progress year on year and the percentage of a book that it is in The U. S. And any differences in economics you receive compared to more traditional areas?

40:21 And thirdly, I'm not sure this is the correct phrasing to ask you, but in terms of capacity utilization in The U. S. In terms of the teams, is there a battle for talent given how buoyant the broader market size or any bottlenecks given the 19% growth? Effectively, busy are the team and how much more is it to go with the team you've got there in The U. S? Okay, great. I'll take all three of those. But if you wanted to chip in, Myles, please do. So I guess in terms of the longer term dynamics of the market and we've already talked about building margins being between 1.52% and you can see our overall mix is about ninetyten, so 90 of our revenues from the buildings market and 10% from civils. That's broadly the mix that I'd like to maintain as we move forward, obviously with some growth, in there overall.

41:08 From a UK data centers perspective, so if you look at our overall order book, 6% of our order book in The U. S. Is in data centers. I do expect that to increase and I expect that to get into probably a double digit percentage in terms of how that looks moving forward. But I think the key thing about our U. S. Business is the ability to remain agile. So if I look back at our order book five years ago, we were at double digit and strongly double digits on commercial and residential and we're not because the market changed. And, so it's about being able to take our capability and flex that across the buildings market environment, which I think we are very adept at doing. And, I guess just to be clear, it will be important not to be overweight on data centers and we'll make sure that the balance remains in our business.

42:01 And then finally, think just a question on capacity. Well, talent is always a challenge and our ability to attract and retain the best talent in the industry will be a will be a constant challenge for us now and into the future. But, you know, I think we have a great employee value proposition. Look at the incredible work that we're doing, and therefore, think we remain an attractive brand for people to want to join. Morning. Andrew Nussie from Peel Hunt. A couple of questions as well please. First of all, we look at working capital as a percentage of revenue increased to sort of negative 19% versus negative 17% which you'll see significantly higher than sort of the long run average.

42:51 You gave us a feel for the drivers behind that but those drivers don't look like they're going to change anytime soon. What are your thoughts over perhaps the medium term in terms of how that might shape? And secondly, in support services, the drop through from that revenue increase was very significant. Again you gave some reasons behind it but I just were there any sort of one offs in there that might impact the margin next year and going forward? Thanks very much. Look firstly working capital. As you say very strong performance round about 19% of revenue We talked in the past about 15% to 18% being the sort of level we've set that I think that's still the case That's why we're holding our average cash, increasing our guidance. So our average cash is around about £1,600,000,000 by the year end. And you're also aware these are down payments mobilization payments on our contracts.

43:50 If the style of contract continues and the growth continues then we are going to continue that sort of 15 to 18% negative working capital but that cash is needed to deliver the programs. So we will get whilst we may see some further inflows, given the growth that Philip set out, there'll also be outflows to deliver the programs. Sorry, second question? Second question is about the drop through. Thank you, thank you. As on support services, it was a great first half 9.1%, as great performance by the teams. In the second half we have got some yeah some of these early start contracts which you know that they you know the drop through we will see an increase in PFO in the second half but I just wouldn't say 9.1% is the new normal yet.

44:45 Were there any one offs? No, just good performance. You. Graham Hunt from Jefferies. Just two questions for me please. On U. S. Civils, should we you talk about some highways projects starting up there. Should we be happy about that? Can you give us some confidence that they are going to be margin accretive? And you said ninetyten is kind of the target for that U. S. Business in terms of building civils, but why is that? You've got peers of yours are doing much better in the civils market from a margin perspective. Could you not have ambition to do a bit more there?

45:33 That's the first question. And then second question, just on your investment portfolio, that's been steady around that billion level for a long or for quite some time now. How are you thinking about that going forward? The rest of your business is growing quite a lot. We have been talking, I think in past quarters about The UK PPP market potentially coming back. We've had a bit of a change of government setup. What are you what's the latest you're hearing on that side? Thank you. Yes, great. Okay. So just taking U. S. Civils first. I think we talked about our strategy previously in U. S. Civils, which is we following the issues that we had in Texas, we did scale back our business to the point where we felt really comfortable about moving forward.

46:21 We've And secured three new wins over the course of the last eighteen, twenty four months. All three of those projects are mobilizing really successfully and you would expect us I think to give extra diligence and put extra controls around that to give us that confidence. I've been to those projects myself and I'm confident about our ability to be able to deliver them moving forward. I do think it's important though isn't it to ensure that we can provide that confidence and that outcome before we race ahead and to build greater depth in civil. I'd say making good progress. I'm confident on performance but I'll keep a close and steady eye on that as we move forward. I think in terms of same thing, guess that answers the ninetyten mix question as well.

47:09 Just thinking about the investment portfolio, so look we continue to see positive comment and traction in terms of what The UK PPP market looks like. We're actively engaged with the new Lower Thames Crossing Limited that's been established to set up that venture and that vehicle moving forward. And we're in active discussion with UK government around both that portfolio but also UK reservoirs program and other things that then may drop through from a PPP perspective. So what I would say is some traction, still some time to go I think before we see that being actively realized but Balfour Beatty is at the heart of the discussion. Thank you. Good morning. Joe Brent from Panmure Lebrum.

48:02 A couple of questions for me. Firstly, could you sort of highlight the three biggest pipeline items that you're most excited about for the group? Secondly, just following up on the negative working capital points. I think you're guiding to average cash being flat in the second half. Does that suggest that you get lower negative working capital in the year rather than in the medium term? And then finally,