Building and services firm Carillion had some good news from the construction sector and upped its forecasts for the year.
A lower tax bill and £10m extra in cost savings from its acquisition of rival Alfred McAlpine (in February 2008) is boosting earnings per share by 15% for the 12 months to December 31, 2008.

Chief executive John McDonough announced the additional £10m pounds of integration and reorganisation cost savings, pushed the expected total amount to £50m for the period to the end of 2009.

Carillion's pre-close trading update stated: 'New order intake has remained strong and we continue to have our largest ever pipeline of opportunities for new contracts'.

It added:'Carillion is a well-balanced and resilient business, with strong positions in its chosen market sectors in the UK, the Middle East and Canada. Therefore, with a robust balance sheet, a strong order book and continuing opportunities in our main market sectors, Carillion continues to expect to build on its strong performance in 2008 and deliver materially enhanced earnings in 2009'.

Support services continues to be a major driver of the Wolverhampton firm's earnings growth and accounts for more than half the group's underlying operating profit. Specifically, investment in government partnership schemes for defence, health, education and transport infrastructure was responsible for most of the company's profits.