The City will be looking for reassurance from Balfour Beatty to maintain a healthy outlook despite cuts in public spending on construction, when the international infrastructure group reports its interim results on 17 August.
Figures compiled by Glenigan suggest that Balfour Beatty is holding its share of UK markets, despite growing competition from smaller rivals.

Balfour Beatty topped the Glenigan league table of the top 50 contractors at winning contracts worth over £500,000, with 238 contracts during the year to July 2011, securing work worth £2,685.2 million, the company beat its own figures for last year when it also came first with 228 contracts worth £2,175.8 million.

Balfour Beatty is positioned ahead of Laing O'Rourke who won 41 contracts, worth a total of £2,541.1 million, Morgan Sindall ranked third with 265 contracts worth £1,866.8 million, Kier ranked fourth with 206 contracts worth £1,872.2 million and Galliford Try ranked fifth with 85 contracts worth £1,220.4 million.

In May, Balfour Beatty said that it was continuing to adapt well to uncertainty in government capital expenditure in the UK and US and that it was 'encouraged' by the progress made so far.

The company's split of profits this year is expected to be more weighted towards the second half than in 2010. City analysts' forecasts for adjusted pre-tax profits for the first half of 2011 are in the region of £132-150 million (compared with £141 million in the first half of 2010).

Balfour Beatty also continues to top Glenigan's league table of contractors in the roads sector. In the year to June 2011, the group won 41 roads-related contracts worth £1,340.5 million. The nearest rival, Ferrovial, won contracts worth £235 million.

At its interim results, analysts will be looking for news on Balfour Beatty's acquisitions and on the group's progress in churning its Private Public Partnership portfolio, which is the largest in the UK.

With a worldwide turnover expected to exceed £9.5 billion in 2011, Balfour Beatty is the largest construction group based in the UK. In late June, the group acquired US contractor, Howard S. Wright, for an estimated £58 million. The deal gives it an entry into the construction market in northern California and the Pacific Northwest and is understood to make Balfour Beatty the third largest construction services provider in the US general building market.

Investors hope the group's strong international spread and its resilient business in PPP/PFI will enable it to keep profits growing through the UK downturn. Analysts are forecasting the group's adjusted pre-tax profits will grow to £350 million in 2012 and £373 million the following year. So far this year, the group's share price has drifted down with the sector from 315p in January to 256.5p, valuing the group at £1,763.3 million (as at close 9/8/11).

But in May, the group said it was benefiting from a strong order intake in the US in 2010 and its business in Hong Kong continues to grow although its market in Dubai remains subdued. It believes the medium and long-term prospects for its infrastructure markets remain positive.