Balfour Beatty Stock

Good morning, everyone. I'm Philip Hoare, 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 organization, 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.

So now, let's get into the first half year results. And I am really pleased with our first half performance. We've delivered profitable growth and strong cash performance across the business. And as I talked about last March, we anticipated the conclusion of the U.S. monitorship, and that happened as planned on the 6th of June. So a really important milestone for our company that allows us now to really get on and focus on delivery for the service men 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. Now of course, our GBP 200 million share buyback that I announced in March is well on track. And so overall, we look to return GBP 267 million 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 billion, 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. 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 they're large resilient markets like U.K. transport. But we're focused around U.K. energy, both on power transmission and on energy generation, in U.K. defense, U.K. 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 U.K. 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. 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 24% growth in revenue year-on-year. Our order book now stands at GBP 2.1 billion. That's up from GBP 1.6 billion 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 billion to GBP 8 billion. So if you remember before, I've described that 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 SSE. That's a GBP 325 million scheme, which was in Part A and has now transitioned into Part B.

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 alongside that. And we've secured further routes to market through a new framework with National Grid that will take us into the future. So that I think really positive momentum underpinned by the further wins that we've had in this growth market.

Turning now to U.K. defense that we are really well differentiated in this space, and I'll outline some of that in a moment. But the key thing that's happened in the first half of this year is the publication of something called the Defence Investment Plan. And the Defence Investment Plan does a few things. Firstly, it sets out with greater certainty the level of investment in U.K. defense 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 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 U.K. defense spending to 3.5% of GDP. 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 defense as a U.K. growth engine. So using that investment to create new jobs to think about not just defense as a national security point, but also as something that's going to drive economic growth across the U.K. U.K. capability is being prioritized. And again, this is good news for Balfour Beatty because as a U.K. domiciled business, I think that allows us to really think about the Team GB approach to delivering defense in the U.K. And clearly, we'll be working closely with our clients in this space to really build out those deep and trusted relationships.

And then finally, speed of delivery is important, isn't it? It's about being able to build on the program as it stands and deliver that into the future. And so 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 defense, I think, sets us apart. And then when you take into fact 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 defense space, I think we're incredibly well positioned.

And then finally, having a robust balance sheet, a strong relationship with the U.K. government and the fact that we're a U.K. domiciled company, I think, puts us in a great position to really capitalize on the growth that we see in the defense space. So larger market, improved policy environment that should speed up delivery and momentum building across the programs of work in the defense 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 20-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. So really simple, a customer we know well, doing work across the U.S., we're now working with them across the U.S.

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 billion worth of construction between now and 2029. We have a great track record delivering across 7 airports in the U.S. And in the first half of the year, we won another significant mandate with Raleigh-Durham Airport for $361 million. 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. We've been working with key clients for over 20 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 million set of wins, taking and expanding our capability beyond the Northwest into Virginia, and we've secured a further $1 billion 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 is just give you a snapshot of some of the great momentum that we're seeing in the organization in the first half of the year. But what I'm going to do now is hand over to Myles and let him take you through the details of the financials.

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've spent 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 on to the financials and the strong first half results, which I'll now take you through.

So headline numbers. Revenue grew by 8% to GBP 5.6 billion, which was a 10% increase if you exclude foreign exchange movements. This is largely due to increased volumes in U.S. buildings and U.K. power transmission. Profit from the earnings-based businesses increased by 42% to GBP 153 million. The Support Services grew strongly, driven by power and U.S. construction returned to 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.

As usual, our interim dividend is 1/3 of last year's full dividend, which equates to 4.7p, 12% increase. The order book increased slightly in the period to GBP 22.9 billion, and the directors' valuation of the infrastructure portfolio remained around GBP 1.1 billion. 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 GBP 1.7 billion and average net cash for the period was GBP 1.6 billion.

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 U.K. Construction was strong in the first half, delivering PFO margin of 3.4%. This represents an improvement of 50 basis points after you exclude the one-off insurance recovery booked in the first half of last year.

In the U.S., buildings continued to deliver profitable growth, driving a 19% increase in U.S. 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 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. And moving to PFO, the divisions delivered a very strong first half performance, growing profit to GBP 66 million 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 GBP 23 billion. 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 U.K. 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 U.S. is slightly down, mainly due to civils, where we're commencing delivery of the 3 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. Gammon 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 GBP 315 million 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 GBP 6 billion to GBP 8 billion 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 18 months as we move into the construction phase.

Moving now to our Infrastructure Investments business, where the important news in the first half was the conclusion of the monitorship. The predisposal 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 2 U.S. assets in the first half, both of which were completed at or above the director's valuation.

And now moving to that directors' valuation of the investments portfolio and taking the bridge from left to right, we invested GBP 15 million in the period in new and existing projects. Sales proceeds from the 2 disposals totaled GBP 12 million, and we received GBP 15 million in distributions from the portfolio. The unwind of the discount increased the valuation by GBP 36 million and the foreign exchange movement was a GBP 12 million benefit as the U.S. dollar strengthened. After those movements, the directors' valuation of the portfolio is maintained at around GBP 1.1 billion.

Okay. Looking at cash now, another area where performance has been strong throughout the first half, with average cash in the period of GBP 1.6 billion and a closing balance of GBP 1.7 billion. And let me touch on 4 of the items here to add a bit more color.

Firstly, operating cash flow of GBP 151 million 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 U.S. together with the rising demand in power.

For pensions, as we set out back in March and as agreed with the trustees of our largest pension fund, we've made a GBP 30 million contribution with no further contributions expected. And finally, the share buyback program is progressing well. We're on track to complete the full GBP 200 million by the year-end.

Okay. Finally, turning to outlook for the full year, where we've updated our guidance in 3 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. And for net finance income, given the strong cash position, we're increasing our guidance to a range of GBP 35 million to GBP 40 million. No change to the expected P&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 billion to GBP 1.7 billion. 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.

Thank you, Myles. So obviously, we're pleased with our 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.

So firstly, I 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 U.K., the U.S. and in Asia, the real sense of driving growth across those focused growth markets that we're operating in, U.K. energy, U.K. defense, U.K. transport and U.S. buildings. And then the new profitable growth framework that we put in place under Evolve, Energize, and Explore.

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 organization. The ability to bring design and engineering through project management into construction management on into construction and then on to O&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.

And then, of course, the whole thing is underpinned then, isn't it, by the strength of our order book at GBP 23 billion and our investments portfolio at GBP 1.1 billion. 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-term value creation for our stakeholders. So firstly, as a reminder, Evolve, Energize, and Explore. Evolve is all about strengthening the core of our business. It's about making sure that we're driving margin improvement across every aspect of our organization. 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 Energize. This is all about accelerating profitable growth. And we've picked a number of key areas there. So 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. It's absolutely about driving growth in the U.S., and I'll come on to that in a moment, and then accelerating growth in those U.K. growth markets that we've indicated.

And then finally, Explore is about shaping what's next. It's about scanning that horizon is thinking about technology and adjacencies that will enable us to grow faster and stronger as an organization. But of course, you've got to measure all this, don't you? And so 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 best sustainable solutions that we can to the projects that we are operating.

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. And 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. And finally, I 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 organization.

So we've made real momentum on this program 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. You would have seen that earlier this year, I reshaped our U.K. 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 program 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.

And then finally, and something that's really close to my heart, is the development of our One Balfour Beatty culture. And 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. And 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. And 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.

And then finally, on Explore, the shaping what's next. We've made an investment of GBP 10 million in Pi Labs. So this is all about connecting new technology that's going to help us drive productivity and efficiency at the front line 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 U.K. and the U.S. in terms of adjacencies that will help strengthen our market position.

So overall, I think we're making great momentum. Evolve Energize, and Explore has landed well and truly in our organization, but it's fundamentally all about creating long-term value for all of our stakeholders.

So let me now summarize 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. And then finally, under Evolve, Energize, 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. Myles and I now look forward to your questions.

Right. So we're going to start in the room. We do actually have some questions on the iPad as well. So we'll do iPad, then we'll go to the phone. [Operator Instructions]

Aynsley Lammin from Investec. Just 2 for me, please. Wondered if you could -- 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?

And then secondly, with the U.S. monitorship kind of finished now, when you look at that U.S. military assets, it's quite a big chunk of the 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'd think about there?

Yes, certainly. Perhaps I take the monitorship question first and come back to you on Support Services. So just in terms of the monitorship, I mean, 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. And so our focus remains on delivering a great service for the American service men and women that live in those properties. So that's our immediate focus.

Okay. And on the Support Services margin, we're delighted with the strong start to the year. 9.1% is an excellent performance, which was actually margin increase in both the power and the transportation divisions within Support Services. Going forward, yes, I think 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%.

Johnny Coubrough from Deutsche Numis. Can I ask a follow-up question on power? As you move from Part A to Part B on these contracts, how will the terms and conditions change and the risks that you take on?

Yes, certainly. So I mean, 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. So we really welcome the model and I guess, progressing with our clients on that.

And also on U.S. civils, I think you said, Myles, that delivered a much reduced loss in the first half, so still loss-making. 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 that the Texas Highway project has been a drag on profitability. So that's got us to where we are now. I think between the 2 divisions, we would expect a pickup in that margin as we approach the full year. And yes, U.S. buildings, long term, we talked about it before, 1.5% to 2% is where it should end up.

And last one for me is just on the 3 Es 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?

Yes. So I mean 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 Chantry, Berenberg. Three questions for me, all on 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 civils 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?

And thirdly, I'm not sure this is a 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 markets? Are there any bottlenecks given the 19% growth? Effectively, how 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 3 of those. But if you want 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 1.5% and 2%. And you can see, look, our overall mix is about 90-10. So 90% of our revenues from the buildings market and 10% from civils. And that's broadly the mix that I'd like to maintain as we move forward, obviously, with some growth in there overall.

From a U.K. (sic) [ U.S. ] 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. And so if I look back at our order book 5 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.

And then finally, I think just a question on capacity. Well, look, talent is always a challenge. And our ability to attract and retain the best talent in the industry will be a constant challenge for us now and into the future. But I think we have a great employee value proposition, look at the incredible work that we're doing. And therefore, I think we remain an attractive brand for people to want to join.

Andrew Nussey from Peel Hunt. A couple of questions as well, please. First of all, when we look at working capital as a percentage of revenue increased to sort of -- or negative 19% versus negative 17%, which is obviously significantly higher than sort of the long-run average. You gave us a feel for the drivers behind that, but those drivers don't look like they're going to change anytime soon. So 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?

Thank you very much. Look, firstly, working capital. As you say, very strong performance, around about 19% of revenue. We've talked in the past about 15% to 18% being the sort of level we'd settle at. I think that's still the case. That's why we're holding our average cash, i.e. increasing our guidance. So our average cash is around about GBP 1.6 billion by the year-end.

And you're also aware, these are down payment -- mobilization payments on our contracts. If the style of contract continues and the growth continues, then we are going to continue with that sort of 15% to 18% negative working capital. But that cash is needed to deliver the programs. So we will, yes, whilst we may see some further inflows given the growth that Philip set out, there will also be outflows to programs.

Sorry, second question? The second question is about the drop through. That's on Support Services, it was a great first half, 9.1%. It's great performance by the teams. In the second half, we have got some of these early start contracts, which they -- the drop through. We will see an increase in PFO in the second half. But I just -- I wouldn't say 9.1% is the new normal yet.

Are there any one-offs?

No. Just good performance.

Graham Hunt from Jefferies. Just 2 questions for me, please. On U.S. civils -- should we -- you talked 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 90-10 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? That's the first question.

And then second question, just on your investment portfolio, that's been steady around that GBP 1 billion level for a long or for quite some time now. How are you thinking about that going forward? The rest of your business has grown quite a lot. We have been talking, I think, in past quarters about the U.K. 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?

Yes. Great. Okay. So just taking U.S. civils first. So I think we've 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. And we've secured 3 new wins over the course of the last 18, 24 months. All 3 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 look to build greater depth in civil. So I'd say, making good progress. I'm confident on performance and -- but I'll keep a close and steady eye on that as we move forward. I think in terms of -- same thing, I guess that answers the 90-10 mix question as well.

Just thinking about the investment portfolio. So look, we continue to see positive comment and traction in terms of what the U.K. PPP market looks like. So 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 the U.K. government around both that portfolio, but also U.K. 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.

Joe Brent from Panmure Liberum. A couple of questions from me. Firstly, could you highlight the 3 biggest pipeline items that you're most excited about for the group?

Secondly, just following up on the negative working capital point. 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, can you just give some indication of the size of the Texas loss in the first half?

You take the second 2, I'll take the first one.

Okay.

So I guess just in terms of the 3 biggest pipeline opportunities that I'm excited about. I mean, I'm excited about our whole pipeline because I think there's some tremendous projects that sit within it. So we talked a moment ago about PPP in the U.K., but Lower Thames Crossing, we've made a meaningful start working with our customer to begin to deliver that program. And I'm looking forward to that getting into full-scale delivery, which will obviously happen soon.

The conversion of the GBP 6 billion to GBP 8 billion, we're working on really -- working really closely with SSE to bring those projects into that construction phase and alongside that, the opportunities with National Grid.

And then when I turn to the U.S., we've got some really good long-term relationships with customers, particularly in the entertainment sector around Disney and Universal. And there's some really exciting opportunities coming up in that space, too, which will draw on our 35-year track record of working with those customers. So something, hopefully, we can all enjoy in the future.

Yes. On working capital, yes, we expect to stick around the GBP 1.6 billion average. Now to do that sort of 19% negative working capital, we do sort of pro rata the year's turnover. So I don't know whether that will mean it will decrease. But that 15% to 18% is the long-term expectation, for this year, if it's 17% to 19%, that's what you could imply from holding the average cash, but we do pro rata it to do the calculation.

Texas loss in the first half, far reduced from last year. You understand I'm not going to give you a specific number. But we're very pleased with the overall performance of the U.S. construction sector, and we do expect that margin to pick up a little in the second half as that drag on profitability falls away.

I think we're finished in the room. So we actually -- we have 2 analysts on the iPad, so I'm going to read them through. So Alexander Craeymeersch, Kepler Cheuvreux. Three questions. You mentioned there are several end markets where momentum is accelerating. Your PFO is up close to 55%. Does that make low double-digit growth for 2026 a bit conservative?

Considering the order book doesn't seem to be accelerating as fast as revenue, do you see the pipeline running ahead of that order book? And how much do you expect to convert into orders in the second half?

And then on Evolve, Energize, and Explore, you mentioned your investment in Pi Labs, a VC focused on built environment technology. What type of technology are we looking at here?

Okay. Do you want to do that?

Yes. Look, those 40% and 50% earnings growth numbers need to be taken into the context of that significantly reduced loss in U.S. civils, which took that U.S. Construction, I think is over GBP 30 million swing from first half last year to this year. Once you strip that out and normalize it, you can see why low double-digit growth is the right place for us to guide, which is slightly ahead of the guidance we provided in March.

Just taking the question on pipeline first. So look, we -- I believe we've got really strong momentum when we look ahead at our pipeline. And so when you look at order book, which is more than 2x our annual revenues, but -- as we look forward in terms of that future pipeline of opportunity, we've got a number of projects in that phase where they've been awarded but not yet contracted. And we -- as Myles said earlier, we expect the power elements of that to transmit into our order book over the course of the next 18 months or so.

But also, I talked about data centers, $1 billion there awarded but not contracted. And things like the publication of the Defence Investment Plan, we saw an immediate momentum swing in terms of new opportunities coming to the market as a consequence. We were anticipating them, but actually, the process started to flow as soon as that plan had been published. So I think really good momentum in terms of the pipeline.

Then in terms of the 3 Es, so Pi Labs, as you said, an investment fund focused on between 10 and 20 organizations that are bringing new technology into our space, ranges from direct frontline productivity improvements in terms of recording and capturing data and to thinking about how new technologies will be used across the broad spectrum of what we do. So I think some really exciting developments there and look forward to sharing more of that in the future.

Okay. And then from Dan Cowan at BNP Paribas. You've talked about exploring market adjacencies in the U.K. and the U.S. Can you add a bit more color? Any particular areas that you're looking at? He goes on to say, would you be looking to acquire existing players? Or expand organic capability which we've touched on?

Yes. Okay. So I mean, as I said, our first priority is organic growth. I think we've got significant opportunity to do that. I know everyone loves me -- wants me to ask the question about M&A. So look, organic growth is our #1 priority. I think as we move forward, we would look at bolt-on M&A where it enhances our capability or our ability to enter an adjacent market. But we are right at the early stages of that. And Myles and I will look forward to talking to you more about it in the future.

Super. Thank you. So that's all the questions on the iPad. So I'll hand over to Alex, the operator, to see if there's any calls on the phone line.

At this time, there are no questions on the conference call. So I'll hand it back to the room.

Okay. Great. Well, look, thank you very much for joining us here in the room and online as well. We really appreciate you spending some time with us. What I hope we've left you with is a sense of real momentum in Balfour Beatty, strong first half year performance, slightly upgraded guidance for the remainder of the year, but really importantly, great momentum and a powerful platform for growth into the future.

So again, thank you very much for being with us, and we'll see you next time.

Good morning, everyone. Welcome to those of you that have joined us here in the room at Deutsche Numis, and hello to everyone online. My name is Philip Hoare, Group Chief Executive of Balfour Beatty. And over the course of the next hour or so, Phil Harrison and I will talk you through our great 2025 performance. But first, what a way to start. That video for me, that film epitomizes everything that is great about Balfour Beatty, the complex projects that we work on around the world, the depth of our end-to-end capability, the great customer relationships that we enjoy. And when you hear the stories from Richard, Amber and Wayne, what a fantastic legacy that they are working on. You can see, can't you, the pride that comes from them. And so this is a great organization poised for the future and look forward to telling you more about that.

But before I do, I just want to say a huge thank you to all the staff and employees of Balfour Beatty. It's you that makes this happen. It's you that delivers the great results that we're going to be talking about today, and it's you that will take this organization into the future. So thank you. We really appreciate everything that you do for this company.

Now let me talk to you about the highlights of the great results. I think for me, this is really captured in 3 things. Firstly, we are improving across every single part of our organization. Secondly, we've got great momentum into the future. And thirdly, my first 6 months in Balfour Beatty, what I see is a great platform for future growth, and I have great confidence in the future.

So let's turn to those results. We delivered against our full year expectations across all key financial metrics. And what that did was allowed us to improve earnings per share by 9% from '24 into 2025. Our order book stands at a record high GBP 23 billion. And it's not just the size and scale of that order book, it's the great quality work that we see within it and the resilience that, that brings to our business. And of course, when you take everything together and look at our overall capital allocation strategy, we're really pleased to announce this morning a GBP 200 million share buyback, returning value to our shareholders.

So a great position. And of course, Phil will take you through the detail of that in just a moment. But let me introduce you to something new. So over the course of the last 6 months, I've had a fantastic opportunity to work across the length and breadth of this organization from the Northwest of the United States through the U.K. and our business with Gammon in Hong Kong. And what I've learned from that is incredible. Those deep customer relationships that we enjoy, the fabulous talent and end-to-end expertise that we have across the business.

But what I've really seen and able to triangulate from my own experience is some real opportunities to improve this business. So let me introduce you to the next chapter of growth, the next chapter of profitable growth for Balfour Beatty through 3 words: Evolve, Energize and Explore. Evolve is all about how we're going to strengthen the core of our business. And this is in meaningful tangible ways. Firstly, through a group-wide margin improvement program driven by data that will allow us to systematically move margins forward.

The second is by a relentless focus on operational excellence, making sure that every project we deliver, large or small, is delivered to the best of our ability and in line with our expectations.

And finally, of course, it's about investing in our people. People are the lifeblood of this company, and our ability to continue to invest in people and create great careers is going to propel this business into the future. The second pillar is all about Energize. So this is about accelerating profitable growth. Now this is about doing this in a disciplined and focused way, remembering the stable platform and great governance that we have across this organization, but really taking advantage of markets where we have that capability and where we have good customer relationships.

So for me, this is about expanding and accelerating growth in the U.S. market, and I'll come on to talk more about that in a moment. It's about leveraging the high-growth opportunities that we see in U.K. energy and defense. And it's fundamentally about getting closer, deeper customer relationships and extending the range of capabilities that we sell to those customers as well as bringing new capability to those organizations.

And then finally, Explore. Explore is all about shaping what's next. It's about being agile and dynamic for the future. It's about being responsive to changes in the markets that we have, but it's also about thinking ahead and exploring adjacencies where we can propel growth into the future. And finally, it's about making some really disciplined investment choices in terms of what we look at for whether that be on technology or on other things as we move forward.

So Evolve, Energize and Explore the next chapter of profitable growth for Balfour Beatty, and I look forward to coming back later in the year and telling you more about that. But for now, let me hand you to Phil, who will take us through the detail of the numbers.

Thanks, Philip, and good morning, everyone. I'm very pleased to present these results today. 2025 has been another strong year for Balfour Beatty. We delivered against the targets we set out a year ago. And as we look ahead, there is real momentum in the business. We are confident in delivering further margin growth and long-term value for our shareholders. Let's kick off things with the numbers.

Revenue increased by 8% to GBP 10.8 billion. This was driven primarily by growth in U.S. Buildings and Power Transmission in the U.K. Profit from our earnings-based businesses increased by 16%. Strong growth in U.K. Construction and Support Services more than offset the write-down in U.S. Civil, which we disclosed at half year. In Infrastructure Investments, disposals were a highlight. We generated proceeds of GBP 120 million and gains of GBP 36 million. That said, higher military housing costs pushed up the division's predisposal operating loss. This offset most of the improvement from our earnings-based businesses, limiting group PFO growth to 2%.

We remain fully focused on completing the work needed to conclude the monitorship by the 6th of June this year. If all goes to plan, we expect investment returns to return to a more normalized level of profit in the second half and for the full year in 2027. Profit for the period climbed by 5% to GBP 239 million. Together with our ongoing share buyback, this drove a 9% increase in earnings per share to 47.6p.

Our order book is looking very healthy, up by 23% to GBP 22.7 billion. The directors' valuation of the infrastructure portfolio reduced by 15% to GBP 1.1 billion, mostly driven by our disposal program.

Average net cash increased to GBP 1.2 billion, thanks to a big working capital inflow. With this strong performance, the Board is announcing a final dividend of 9.8p, bringing the total for the year to 14p. That's a 12% increase, marking another year of double-digit growth. We're also committing to GBP 200 million in share buybacks for 2026.

Let's turn to Construction Services. Overall, PFO grew by 8%. U.K. Construction had an excellent year. If we leave out insurance recoveries, profits were up by 22%, and we surpassed our long-standing 3% margin target a year earlier than planned. This was down to better operational performance and a lower risk contract mix. We also received an GBP 11 million insurance recovery in the first half of the year tied to an ongoing project.

Looking forward, we see further scope for improvement. We expect U.K. Construction margins in '26 to go beyond the 3.2% achieved in '25. In U.S. Construction, PFO was GBP 25 million. Strong growth and operational delivery in Buildings was offset by cost overruns and schedule delays on the Texas Highways project.

The second half was much better. Buildings continued to grow, Civil stabilized, and we beat our August forecast. For '26, we're expecting more revenue growth from Buildings and for the delayed Texas project to complete this year. PFO will start to recover towards historic levels in '26 with further progression in '27. At Gammon, revenue was 30% lower, reflecting less activity at Hong Kong Airport as our 2 major projects move towards completion. PFO only reduced by GBP 2 million as improved margins and operational performance largely made up for lower volumes.

For '26, we think Gammon's PFO will be broadly in line with '25. Moving on to Support Services, which shows the group's broader growth themes. In Energy, Power Transmission growth is strong, and we've got excellent long-term visibility. In transport, our road and rail businesses are aiming for medium-term growth, but will likely stay broadly flat in the short term. In '25, revenue increased by 18%. Power revenue has nearly doubled over 2 years, beating our original plan. Operational delivery across the division was strong with PFO up 31% to GBP 122 million and margins at 8.5%, pleasingly above our target range.

In '26, we see more revenue growth coming from power, and we're focused on keeping PFO margins above 8%. Many of the power projects driving this growth are still in their early stages and will move into main construction over the next 12 to 18 months. This portfolio gives us a genuine opportunity to further improve margins throughout the rest of the decade. Operational excellence remains our critical focus to deliver this margin improvement.

Now let's look at the order book. Our high-quality order book rose by 23% to GBP 22.7 billion, with growth across all 4 divisions. U.K. Construction jumped by 44%, thanks to Sizewell C and Net Zero Teesside orders. Our disciplined contracting approach is key with 88% of U.K. construction orders on target cost or cost-plus terms.

In the U.S., the order book rose by 18% in dollar terms with growth in both buildings and civils. Gammon benefited from robust orders in civil and buildings projects, especially in the Hong Kong's Northern Metropolis, a key growth area for the business. Support Services went up by 25%, driven by rail and power. And beyond the order book, we've got a deep pipeline of selected work yet to contract, including Rolls-Royce and more power schemes. We expect these to move into delivery phases within the next year.

Moving over to our Infrastructure Investments business. In Investments, the loss before disposals was greater than we expected, mainly because of higher monitoring and legal costs in military housing. As we've mentioned before, we agreed with the Department of Justice to extend the monitorship to the 6th of June this year, and that's still our target. If we hit it, we expect PFO in '26 before disposals to be a small loss, returning to more normal profits in '27. The business took advantage of a favorable market, making strong disposals in 2025.

We sold 12 assets for GBP 120 million, resulting in gains of GBP 36 million, above our guidance and helping us to commit to a strong buyback in '26. Each deal achieved a 2 to 2.5x cash multiple and was at or above directors' valuation. Looking ahead, we expect disposal gains of GBP 5 million to GBP 15 million in '26, reflecting last year's elevated activity and the maturity cycle of our assets.

We'll stay disciplined in both valuation and disposal timing, aiming to maximize value. Net interest income was GBP 8 million lower year-on-year as a one-off impairment write-back in '24 didn't repeat. On the next slide, we can take a look at the portfolio valuation. The directors' valuation dropped by 15% to GBP 1.1 billion, mainly driven by 3 factors: first, the disposal of 12 assets for GBP 120 million; second, higher discount rates in H1, reflecting long-term interest rate changes, which reduced value by GBP 62 million. And finally, strengthening against the U.S. or sterling strengthening against the U.S., reducing value by GBP 53 million.

Returns from equity invested remained strong. During the year, we acquired 2 U.S. multifamily housing assets and continue to see a range of investment opportunities across our markets. For instance, at the start of this year, we completed the refinancing of our Carson Army Housing. The Army extended our concession by 25 years, giving the project another 48 years to run. This raised GBP 444 million to redevelop 750 houses, which our U.S. businesses will deliver. With our continued confidence in these and other investment opportunities, we expect equity investments in the portfolio to rise towards GBP 50 million in '26.

Now on to cash. Our cash performance this year was exceptionally strong, with average net cash up by nearly 60%, thanks to superb work from all the teams. Operating cash flow was nearly GBP 300 million and working capital increased by GBP 400 million, driven by revenue growth in U.S. Construction and power. And of course, rigorous cash management. Our working capital ended up at 17% of revenue this year, and we expect it to remain pretty steady as we head into '26. Looking a bit further ahead, we think it will sit somewhere between 15% and 18% in the medium term.

CapEx went up by GBP 21 million, reflecting equipment purchase in Texas Roads and the expanding U.K. power business. On pensions, we've just concluded our triennial negotiation with the trustees. We're all very pleased with the outcome, which includes a one-off GBP 30 million payment this year. This puts the scheme on a strong sustainable footing, and we don't expect any more deficit contributions going forward.

We've also agreed that once the defined benefit section moves into surplus, the excess may be used to meet defined contribution obligations. This could mean a net annual operating cash inflow of around GBP 10 million from '27 compared to the GBP 24 million deficit outflow seen in recent years. And finally, we believe our strong record of cash management will carry on, with average net cash in '26 expected to be between GBP 1.3 billion and GBP 1.5 billion. Moving to our long-term capital allocation framework. This remains unchanged. We invested GBP 77 million in the business, including 2 new investment assets as we keep investing in projects that we believe meet our ambitious return targets. We received GBP 120 million in disposal proceeds and delivered strong cash performance. The Board is recommending a 12% dividend increase to 14p, and we're upping this year's share buyback to GBP 200 million.

As many of you know, I'll be leaving the business later in the year after a decade as CFO. I thought it'd be a good chance to reflect on the financial progress I'm most proud of. Looking at the P&L. We can see the progression of EPS, not only the improvement in results, but also the consistency and reliability in the post-COVID period. This is partly thanks to the fundamental changes we made to our governance and risk processes, which have strengthened the group's risk profile and equally to the strong performance of our teams.

The group is well positioned to deliver further growth supported by our GBP 23 billion order book, which has doubled over the last 10 years and the additional pipeline we've discussed. Our investments business has also been a key part of the group's success over the past decade. We've invested GBP 400 million and realized GBP 1.6 billion of value while keeping the valuation nearly flat. We aim to carry on with this model of value creation while optimizing our strong portfolio. So what does all this mean for shareholders? The group's strong cash generation and transformed balance sheet have enabled us to commit over GBP 1.2 billion to dividends and share buybacks, reducing the share count by around 30%.

This approach, which prioritizes investments in the business before distributing surplus cash to shareholders remains unchanged. With the growth we're forecasting, I expect to see significant shareholder returns continue well beyond '26. Let's wrap up with the outlook for '26. After strong growth in '25, we're expecting solid PFO increases next year, mainly thanks to improved margins in U.K. and U.K. Construction and higher support services revenue, which should drive high single-digit growth. In investments, we expect a small underlying loss in '26, aligned with planned completion of the monitorship in June.

Disposal gains should land between GBP 5 million and GBP 15 million. Net finance income is forecast at GBP 28 million to GBP 32 million, and the effective tax rate should be close to statutory levels. And as I mentioned, average net cash is expected to be between GBP 1.3 billion and GBP 1.5 billion. In summary, the group heads into '26 with considerable strength. Our financial position is solid and the strategic investments made in previous years have set the stage for future growth. The momentum in earnings is expected to carry on beyond '26, giving us confidence in continued progress over the medium term. And with that, I'll hand you back to Philip.

Thank you, Phil. I'd just like to take a moment actually to publicly acknowledge the great job that Phil has done for this company over the course of the last 10 years. I think you could see that track record, that visible track record of success. And Phil, we really thank you for everything that you've done for the business. Thank you.

So absolutely. So look, this has created a really strong and diversified group. We have a really stable platform to continue the growth momentum that Phil just talked about. When you look at the order book strength and look at its distribution across our focused geographies that we operate in, when you look at the strength and the underpin of the great infrastructure investment business that we have at GBP 1.1 billion.

And then when you look at the real momentum that exists in the core markets that we operate in from U.K. transport, defense, energy and U.S. buildings, I think we are well poised to move into the future. What's really key for me, though, and I've seen as I've traveled across our business is that, that deep end-to-end expertise, I think, is a real differentiator for Balfour Beatty. Our ability to work across the whole life cycle of a project from sitting down with our customers at inception and thinking about how a project will be delivered all the way through construction and then into operations and maintenance, underpinned by our ability to raise project finance and to be part of that overall story, I think, is an incredible differentiator for our business and places us uniquely to capture some of the opportunities that will be there in the future.

So let's move on to talk about that. So firstly, let me start with the U.S. The U.S. represents a significant growth opportunity for Balfour Beatty. When you look at our performance in the previous year, our revenue is up by 28%, our order book up by 18%. And that has come from a clear disciplined approach to how we win work in that market. Two key areas of that for me. The first one is all about how we land and expand in geographies where we're already strong. So take, for example, our business in Florida. We are really strong in Orlando. We've moved some of those operations into Tampa, an adjacent city where actually the demand for the expertise that we have is high, and that allows us to safely and in a disciplined way, continue to grow our business. And that happens in each of the states that we operate within.

I think there's also a really significant opportunity to continue to leverage really strong customer relationships. So where we might operate with a customer in one part of the U.S. that has a national footprint, how do we work to expand across the rest of the country? And I think we've seen some great evidence of that. We're also seeing some really big opportunities in some fast-growing markets.

So let me give a bit more color to that. The first of those is the rising demand for data center expertise. When you look at the map on the slide there, you can see the states that we're strong in, where we've got deep CT capability colored as they are on the chart. But you can also see the massive expansion, GBP 250 billion market over the course of the next 5 years. And you can see where that investment is happening on the states marked with a star. Now we have a 20-year-plus track record of delivering in data centers focused around the shell and core of those buildings.

The opportunity to expand from the strong footprint that we have in Washington State and in Oregon, we've recently won a new project in Virginia, and there are opportunities emerging across Texas, Georgia, Pennsylvania, all areas where we have real strength as a business. So this is an example of where we can take those customer relationships, those deep relationships that we've built over many years and move that around the U.S. to drive growth. And I think this is a really significant opportunity for Balfour Beatty moving into the future.

It's actually similar when I look at the aviation market. So when -- again, when you look at the investment in aviation over the next 5 years, around about GBP 140 billion you can see where that investment is happening and where we are aligned to capitalize on that. We've got an incredibly strong track record of delivering airports in our U.S. business already. But actually, this is one skill and capability that really does travel. And so our expertise of working on airports in the U.K. as well as delivering in Hong Kong, we're able to take that capability, move that around the world and help us deliver more strongly. It creates a fantastic CV or as we say, in the U.S., a resume in terms of how we grow that business into the future. So great, a great opportunity for us.

Turning now to the U.K. The U.K. markets, we are laser-focused in terms of where we operate. U.K. Energy, U.K. Defense, U.K. Transportation. And you can see from those numbers on the slides just how big those market opportunities are, GBP 70 billion in Energy, GBP 15 billion in Defense and GBP 85 billion in Transport over the course of the next 5 years. And it's not just about the future opportunity is it, it's very much about what we're winning and delivering here and now. And this year, we made significant additions to our order book through the likes of the Main Civil Works Alliance at Sizewell, adding GBP 3 billion to our order book moving forward to the relationships that we're developing with Rolls-Royce, winning our second project, which will appear in our order book soon. And then finally, in Transport, again, winning across the rail environment and in roads and being close to our customers has enabled us to extend the long-term relationship that we already have with Warwickshire County Council into the future.

Some great wins that underpin the strength of the business moving forward. But one of the things I absolutely love about this visibility and commitment to investment is that it allows us to do what we really want to do, which is about investing in skills for the future. And you can see from the numbers on the slide that 9% of our workforce are in earn-as-you-learn positions. And that's all about creating new job opportunities, creating skills for the future and leaving a legacy as Balfour Beatty as this country moves forward. So a fantastic platform for us to continue to grow in.

So turning now to some details on those markets. Let's start with U.K. Power Transmission. This is a great opportunity for us moving into the future as well as a core part of our order book today. GBP 600 million delivered in 2025, GBP 1.6 billion in our order book and a strong clear pipeline that will move into construction of between GBP 6 billion and GBP 8 billion into the future. When you look at the graph on this slide, it's incredible, isn't it? The U.K.'s demand for safe, clean, secure energy is high. And you can see how the power transmission need is reflected in the growth that you'll see over the course of those 5 years.

We already enjoy a 25% market share in this space, and you can see that growth opportunity moving forward. One of the things that's critical about this is Balfour Beatty's differentiated position in this market. We've invested in the skills and capabilities needed on that end-to-end approach. In this case, from design through into manufacture, as you saw on our video earlier, all the way through to construction and sitting alongside our clients step by step as we deliver those programs of work with them. So a great opportunity moving forward for our business.

Secondly, let's turn to power generation. So this is a story of long-term secured workload. We are a trusted delivery partner in this space. And you can see how we've taken our long presence at Hinkley, supporting our clients to deliver the first nuclear power station in a generation, how we've taken that experience and knowledge and are beginning to apply that as we start works at Sizewell C. That's a great story. It's also great momentum as we move this business into the future. And as I look forward, opportunities around net zero, we're currently delivering the world's first carbon capture gas turbine plant at Net Zero Teesside, working very closely with our customers to do that. We see a number of other opportunities in the pipeline. And with the government's commitment to quadruple U.K. nuclear capacity by 2050, I think, again, we are really well placed to work with our customers to deliver that vision. So U.K. power generation, really solid order book moving forward, but also plenty of opportunity into the future.

Turning now to Defense. We are well positioned in a complex market. This is about delivering infrastructure in defense, and there are high barriers to entry, which we meet the requirements of. So as well as a strong pipeline into the future and a good order book through some deep customer relationships, we see significant opportunity where we are well differentiated. We are clearly a U.K.-domiciled company. And so our ability to work in this space is higher than perhaps some of our international competition.

We've invested heavily in the skills and capability needed to be able to deliver this type of complex infrastructure. And in addition to that, we've made a number of investments to ensure that our platforms are secure and safe. So a growing market with high barriers to entry, which we are well placed to grow into the future.

Turning now to U.K. Transport. Transport remains an attractive and resilient market with significant size as we move into the future. This is an area of business I know well. It's a market that I grew up in. And so I'm passionate about our ability as Balfour Beatty to be able to support this market as it pivots and changes over time. But we have a really strong, stable platform to continue to deliver against a strong order book, and we see opportunities into the future.

In particular, we were well -- we were very pleased about the government's announcements on their commitment to Lower Thames Crossing and the opportunity to bring private finance to support the delivery of that project. And in the future, as roads pivots away from capital investment to infrastructure maintenance, we're again well placed with the great capability that we have within the organization.

On major projects that we're delivering across rail, we are well placed to continue to work closely with our clients to deliver on their key milestones, and we look forward to continuing that success as we move forward into the future. So attractive and resilient market where we are well placed to continue to operate.

Let me turn now to Gammon, our joint venture in Hong Kong. We have a strong reputation and are renowned for high-quality delivery. And actually, when I visited our business there last November, one of the things I was really struck by was the strength of the relationships we have with our customers. In fact, one of our customers said to me, people like to live and work in Gammon-built buildings because of their renowned high-quality delivery. And that's a fantastic accolade, isn't it to have from any client that we operate with.

But we've seen real momentum in the market, our 18% increase in our order book in 2025, driven in part by the expansion of Hong Kong into an area called the Northern Metropolis. And that will see long-term investment in that from an infrastructure perspective and a buildings perspective, the 2 areas of the markets where we're strong. One of the things that fascinated me about that particular trip to Hong Kong was the level of investment in technology driven around improving productivity. And I saw some great examples there where I believe we can apply that across our wider business. So Gammon in a good place for the future.

Now let me turn to infrastructure investments, and I'm pleased to say that this is an improving landscape across the board. And I wanted to just pick out 3 examples of that. So firstly, within the U.K., the government's creation of a new body called NISTA, which brings together something called the Infrastructure Projects Association with Treasury and strategy for the first time, a joined-up approach to thinking about how we'll deliver infrastructure in this nation, including how we'll look at driving up productivity and how we'll introduce private finance to fund and support some of those programs of work.

We're working really closely with NISTA. And last week, I held a roundtable with industry leaders with NISTA and the cabinet office to work out how we will work to best affect the delivery of that program, a great opportunity. And as I said, Lower Thames forms a key part of that. We are also putting our capital to good work. And I was really pleased with the 20-year deal that we announced with Kent County Council to install electric vehicle charging points on their road network, not just a sustainable solution, but also great use of our capital moving forward.

And then finally, and Phil mentioned it, the refinancing at Fort Carson, extending our relationship there by 25 years, but also bringing significant investment to provide new homes and refurbish existing homes for American service men and women. What a fantastic opportunity for us to provide a great service to those customers. So a changing landscape and one where we are flexible and agile to respond to it.

So finally, what does this mean for you? What does this mean for our business? I think that we have a powerful platform for growth. Our strong 2025 performance is clear as is the momentum that we're building into 2026. We have a significant and high-quality order book, which we're really pleased with and know that we can capitalize on and deliver. And when you couple that with our disciplined approach to governance, selecting with real focus the right projects to work on as well as our robust balance sheet and a consistent capital allocation framework that Phil described, I think we're incredibly well placed to deliver long-term shareholder value well into the future.

And of course, I'm keen about unlocking the next chapter of growth; Evolve, Energize and Explore, how we'll take Balfour Beatty's profitable growth story into the future. And I look forward to coming back later in the year to tell you much more about that. So thank you very much. Phil and I are looking forward to your questions.

Thank you, Philip. So we're going to take Q&A in the room first before going to the phone. So if you've got a question, please raise your hand. The mic will come around and far away. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Philip and Phil, for this presentation. If I may, 2.5 questions from me, please. Broadly, you sound like you want to grow in construction, the order book will allow that. I'm talking really first at group level. How do you plan to balance construction growth with improving the margins?

And the second question is basically the same, but a bit more focused on the U.S. where your track record on margins is generally low, although I appreciate it's the type of contracts you have there. It sounds very ambitious in terms of U.S. Construction growth. Is it more buildings? Or do you think transport could have opportunities as well? And what sort of margin improvement do you think is achievable in the U.S. Construction in particular?

And lastly, just thinking about data centers, you had a slide about it. How do you specifically differentiate or win data center projects relative to the likes of Turner or Skanska of this world who are also competing for those?

[indiscernible]40:42 Okay. Great. Thank you very much for the question. So I mean, I guess, let me start with that balance, I guess, between growth and margin improvement that you mentioned. We see the opportunity for both things. You've seen the strength of the order book that we've described and what that means for the future as well as some of the opportunities that we've outlined. I think you also heard Phil talk about the position that we have moving forward in terms of completing the challenging project that we have within the U.S. And so we expect margins there to return to a more normalized level towards the end of '26 and beyond.

So in addition to that, the approach around Evolve is all about strengthening the core of our business. And so when you take those factors together, I believe that we can drive that top line as well as improving the margins in the business. I think secondly, when you look at the U.S., a significant proportion of our workload in the U.S. is through our buildings business. And when I talked about that sort of land and expand approach, that is working really well for us, and that's what we expect to continue to do. I think from an infrastructure perspective, it's a clear case of remaining really focused and disciplined about what we select to bid within the capabilities that we have within the organization. And then finally, on data centers, data centers is a big opportunity. It's around about 6% of our U.S. portfolio at the moment. But actually, we see significant growth. And I'm sure when you look at peer companies in the U.S. market, as I'm sure you do, you will have seen that a number of them have had significant growth off the back of the data center market. And that opportunity is there for us as well.

Joe Brent from Panmure Liberum. Three questions from me as well, please. Firstly, on U.S. monitoring costs, can you give us an indication of what they were in '25 and what they will be in '26? And presumably, the budgeting assumption is nothing in '27. Secondly, on PPP sales, clearly, the guidance is that disposal going to be a bit lower in '26. At what point do you expect that level of disposals to increase again?

And thirdly, maybe Part A, Part B. I'd be interested in Philip's perception on the U.K. margin and where that can get to because I know what Leon's thoughts were on that subject. And part B is, Phil, you talk about U.S. margins back to the history. Could you just tell us what you mean by history?

Okay. I'll let Phil take the answers to most of those questions. But perhaps I'll start with the comment about U.K. margins and where we think that can move to. This is about taking a really disciplined approach in the core markets that we work in across energy, defense and transport. And we gave some guidance around where we see further full year in '26 on an improving margin story. So we're going to really focus on continuing to drive in that way. And I'll come back to you later in the year to talk about Evolve, Energize and Explore. Perhaps you want to take the monitor [indiscernible]

Yes. Let's -- disposal gains. Clearly, we've said for '26 between GBP 5 million to GBP 15 million. I think for '27, you should think about something similar. And then clearly, as we move into '28, we'll reassess that. But I think that's -- because we've had very strong growth of disposals this year. So I think that's the way to look at that. U.S. monitoring costs, what we're thinking about there is that a clean '27, you should see our investment business between GBP 15 million and GBP 20 million PFO. And clearly, we posted GBP 31 million loss this year. So I think you can work out the kind of magnitude of the monitoring and legal costs from that.

And then on U.S., look, we've -- our margins there have been in the 1.1%, 1.5% level previously, 0.6% in '25. I think we've got the ability, as we've always said, to get towards 2%. And I think with Philip's focus on operational excellence, I think we'll try and try and go over that as well. But first of all, let's get back to the 2% and then move on from there. And I'm sure a lot of the programs that we'll initiate this year and next year will drive that.

Jonny Coubrough from Deutsche Numis. Thanks for the presentation and also the cinematography at the start. Can I ask firstly start on the Evolve, Energize and Explore. You mentioned implementing a group-wide margin improvement program. It would be good to hear a bit more detail about what that could look like, whether it's price focused or cost or a bit of both.

And then in terms of the power growth opportunity within Support Services, you set out the GBP 6 billion to GBP 8 billion pipeline. I think in the past, the presentation slides have included the opportunity to get to GBP 1.5 billion revenues a year. Is that still the correct level? And in order to get there, how many more engineers would you need in-house? And also in terms of the steel pylon fabrication facility, it would be good to hear what the capacity of that is versus where it is today? I presumably it's quite a high gross margin.

Yes, certainly. So let's start with Evolve, Energize and Explore. So I have the advantage of having run a group-wide margin improvement program previously in my previous role. And so I think I know what it takes to drive that. And it's not about one thing, Jonny. It's about being really focused across the whole of the organization and taking a really data-led approach to that program. So that's what we're looking to put in place across Balfour Beatty. And as I said, I'll come back later this year to talk about a bit more detail about where we're really focused on that.

I think secondly, on the power growth. I mean, let's be clear, on the GBP 6 billion to GBP 8 billion pipeline, it's a bit more than pipeline. We're delivering the first part of those schemes, and we expect those to move into construction some later this year and then through '27 and into '28. And so that projection around GBP 1.5 billion plus in terms of revenues from that, I think, is realistic and something that we can expect. And then in terms of the Painter Brothers fabrication facility that we have, we have a full order book for at least 3 years within that facility. We've recently put some investment into that to improve production outputs, and we're confident that we have a great program moving forward.

Yes. We've invested in Painter Brothers over the last 3 years, new machinery, an expansion of that. So I think we've made the right investments to capture the market. The other point I would make is that in terms of the growth of power, let's not forget some of this does move left and right depending on the government. So we think it's there. Timing, as always, is the key thing that we'll have to keep an eye out on.

And while I've got the mic, Phil, thanks very much for your tenure at the company. I think the numbers speak for themselves. I mean, Howard was pointing out at the start of the turnaround, you spend a week in the U.K. turning around this business, then you fly off abroad at the weekend. And during that time, you made a very timely disposal of the Middle Eastern business, which apparently left all the liabilities there, which you thought was worth mentioning. But best of luck for the future, and thanks very much.

Well, thank you, Jonny, and thanks to all of the analysts and investors who have helped me as well. So a lot of this is down to listening to investors and yourselves. So thank you very much for your support over the last 10 years.

Rob Chantry at Berenberg. Obviously, echo Jonny's comments, especially the contribution from analysts, which I think was pretty instrumental along the way. So 3 questions from me. So I guess 2 on the U.S., one on infrastructure. So firstly, in the U.S., can you just give more clarity, I guess, on risk management in data centers? So are they different terms, more aggressive, kind of shorter time scale? Is there any kind of specific factors to be aware of going heavily into U.S. data centers?

I guess secondly, you look at the U.K. margin profile, 3.5% in construction, kind of 8.5% in Sports Services, then you look at U.S. at 0.6%. Are there any areas of the U.S. portfolio you're either in or you're not at the moment where you see a genuine potential to get a better structural margin for Balfour in those markets rather than 1.5% margin on a civil project, et cetera?

And thirdly, sorry, infrastructure options. You had a great chart on your 3 highlights of your 10 years, Phil, looking at the amount of capital in, the cash out and the portfolio valuation in infrastructure. Could you just talk about, I guess, the opportunities to deploy fresh capital in the next 3 to 5 years, what type of scope, sectors, kind of the dynamics around where that business goes from here on a kind of multiyear view?

Okay. I'll let Phil take that last question in a moment. Perhaps I'll pick up on the 2 on the U.S. I mean, look, from a data center perspective, this isn't something that's new to our business. We're really focused on delivering the infrastructure that supports that. So the shell and the core of the building and the associated infrastructure. And U.S. buildings, that is really the core of what we do. And so we've been delivering data centers for over 20 years. We have really strong relationships with some key customers that you would recognize. And this is about taking those relationships and expanding it into other parts of the U.S. So I don't believe it adds significantly to our risk profile because we're used to operating in that environment. It's an expansion opportunity, if you like.

I think secondly, on the U.S. margins, we know we need to improve U.S. margin performance. And we've talked about some of the factors that have been a drag, particularly this year on U.S. margin. So coupled with that disciplined approach to the projects that we select moving forward to the land and expand in capabilities where we're really strong to recovering from the difficult positions that we've had that we've talked about. I think when you take all those factors together and the growth opportunity that sits in the U.S., we should expect to see improvements as we move forward. And finally, do you want to talk about capital deployment?

Yes. Look, I think we've got some very good opportunities. I think Philip talked about the U.K. government and their view of how to expand that. I think we are in active conversations around Lower Thames Crossing. Remember, we funded and operated project financing for the M25. So this is something we know and we have deep experience about. So I think we're very interested in seeing if we can make that work. We talked about the EV sector. This is something we talked about previously. We were very big in street lighting for councils. We see on-street charging similar.

Kent is a huge win for us, 10,000 sockets. That's one of the biggest councils actually to deliver that. And we've got plans ahead to do more of that. So I think there's -- we can deploy capital into that area. And let's not forget the U.S. I think there is a pent-up demand in military housing that has to be satisfied. There's still probably half the housing stock that the military has, needs redevelopment and rebuilding. So I think that's a positive.

And we are seeing areas around structures that people want to put in place as well, build bridges, et cetera, that we're engaged in talking about. So I think we've got a good level of different opportunities to look at. But we'll stay disciplined. We've still got to get the returns that we think justify us putting the capital in. But we feel there's strong things in U.K. and U.S. now. Previously, I would say, over the last 5 or 6 years, we saw less opportunity in the U.K., but I think that's changing.

Yes.

It's Graham Hunt from Jefferies. And yes, I echo those sentiments, Phil, it's extremely impressive performance over the past 10 years, and I think the share price performance speaks for itself. Can I just ask 2 questions? Firstly, if I could go back to Slide 21 on the Transmission market. Just would be interested to understand a bit more about your -- the moving parts there that take you to that 2030 number. As you say, it's extremely impressive growth that you're projecting there. But how much is secure for the market, do you think in terms of the frameworks that we've seen from your customers and what's committed versus you mentioned there's some flexibility in terms of what the government does and sort of what's the range of outcomes there?

And then second question, I guess, going back to the U.S. and that infrastructure portfolio you mentioned on the -- shortlisted on the I-77 South. Just interested to know a bit more about your ambitions there in the U.S. Express Lanes market.

Perfect. Okay. So I guess turning to Slide 21. Just to be clear, that graph on the left-hand side is the market growth and so not our projected revenue, which would obviously be fantastic, wouldn't it if we were delivering those scales of revenue in the market. But just to give some clarity on where we are. So GBP 600 million delivered this year, GBP 1.6 billion in our solid pipeline, i.e., work that is contracted and secured as we move forward.

And then the GBP 6 billion to GBP 8 billion, the reason we talk about that is pipeline is because the way that these programs of work are delivered is there's a Part A and Part A is we work with the customer, we develop the scheme, we finalize the cost and with a really clear design proposition. And then we move into Part B, which is the construction.

We only recognize that Part B in our order book once we actually sign Part B. So at the moment, we are working on the first phase of those programs of work. And the reason why Phil added a note of caution to that is because sometimes it can take longer or shorter to go into Part B. And so that's really why we said what we said. But this is a great opportunity because we are already working on the development phase of those programs.

Turning to U.S. Infrastructure and I-77 as an example. So Phil mentioned again, the roads PPP market in the U.S. is really significant. And when you look back over the last 10 years, probably back to about 2015, you'll see that there's a huge number of opportunities that have come to market and being secured in consortia. And we're now looking at what does the next 10 years look like in terms of those investments. And we see this as a lower risk opportunity to both deliver and deploy capital. And so hence, the I-77 and potentially further opportunities moving into the future.

I think more questions in the room. So Becky on the lines, have we got any questions there?

On the conference call, so I'll hand back to Philip for any final comments.

Thank you so much...

Arnaud from Bank of America. Just a couple of follow-ups. Philip, you mentioned acquisitions. I don't think that means geographic expansion. That's probably IT systems or AI. Could you maybe develop? And just can you confirm, I'm guessing the answer, but you're not going to Australia and you're not going to Canada in terms of your construction activity. And obviously, I joined the other sellside in terms of congratulating Phil. Can you give us an update on the CFO transition? When do you actually plan to go on holiday somewhere nice.

So I'm not sure I mentioned acquisitions at all, Arnaud. So I don't know whether you're trying to leave me there. But look, we want to deploy capital in the best way that we can to maximize shareholder returns. And as we look at Evolve, Energize and Explore, we'll make decisions. But certainly, we see fantastic growth opportunities in the U.S., in the U.K., where we're really focused and in the end markets we've described. So that is our area of focus.

Look, I'm fully committed to the transition to Myles. We'll make it as good as we can. There's -- I think we're in a great place, in great shape. So I've got no concerns about that. My wife says I have no hobbies, so I'm going to have to continue working. So there's my job ad. So -- but we'll make sure that Balfour remains in a very good position.

And I'll just add, Phil has been a tremendous support to me onboarding into the company as well. And he's used the word discipline every second sentence. So I've definitely got the message, but we're very well positioned as we move forward.

And we do now have one question on the phone.

We have a question from Nicolas Mora from Morgan Stanley.

Just a couple of questions. First one on the cash flow. The performance has been, again, extremely strong. Do you see a bit of a structural change in the way you are able to sign up contracts, maybe a little bit more prepayments, a bit more milestones on some of the large projects? Anything you could say on that and going forward would be useful.

And second, on the U.S., we've seen quite amazing acceleration in order bookings over the past now 18 months in a market which for the vast majority of your peers, not listed one, but overall, has been a bit more muted. I mean, how are you managing to gain so much market share basically in the market overall, U.S. non-resi, which is basically flat overall for the best part of at least '25? That would be it.

Okay. Thanks for those questions, Nicolas. And I'll take the one on the U.S. and perhaps, Phil, you can pick up the one on cash flow. So look, I mean, I think the secret to our growth in the U.S. is about sticking to what you're really good at. And the ability to grow in buildings over the course of the last 18 months or so has been about focused, disciplined approach and doing what we know how to do really well. And so that is what's triggered the 28% growth in revenues that we saw as well as the large increases that we've had in our order book.

Yes. Nicolas, I think -- I don't think it's a structural thing that we're going through at the moment. I think it's a mix for us. U.S. typically, you can get higher mobilization and advanced payments just in that marketplace. And clearly, we had revenue growth, quite a substantial revenue growth in the U.S. I think one of the other things is we've taken advantage certainly in power to get a lot of advanced payments because we've got long lead times in power at the moment for gear, cable, et cetera. And also, we need to prime our own division in terms of pylons. So we've been able to take, I think, the right constructive approach with the customer to get that preloaded. So that's probably the 2 things.

We do see, as we go forward, I think our working capital as we now see it is going to operate in the between 15%, 18% of our revenue, which is a new norm. Now of course, I've got it wrong every single time that I've said that. So hopefully, I'll get it wrong again, and it will actually be 17% and upwards, but that's where we are at the moment.

There are no further questions. So I'd like to hand back to Philip for any final comments.

Great. Thank you very much. Well, look, thank you for spending the time with us here this morning and online. I hope what you've heard is a story of improving performance across our business, great momentum through our order book and the opportunities that we see in front of us and being poised for future growth in the company, future profitable growth for Evolve, Energize and Explore. And I really look forward to coming back to you later in the year and talking to you more about that. So thank you very much, everyone.