Balfour Beatty reinstates dividend and repays furlough cash despite shrinking profits
Balfour Beatty today reinstated its dividend and said it would repay the £19m claimed under the government’s furlough scheme after the construction industry began to recover from the coronavirus crisis.
The London-listed infrastructure firm said it will pay a dividend of 1.5p for the year ended 31 December 2020, after scrapping its interim shareholder payout due to the pandemic.
Balfour Beatty posted underlying profit from operations of £51m, down from £221m in 2019, due to the impact of Covid restrictions and its decision to repay £19m of furlough month.
It said it expects this year’s profit to be in-line with 2019’s pre-pandemic levels.
The construction giant’s share price dipped 2.07 per cent following the publication of its full-year results.
Leo Quinn, the firm’s chief executive, said: “Throughout the pandemic, we have protected the group’s strengths, supported our stakeholders and held firm to our disciplines.
“That we achieved this while exceeding our own targets for net cash demonstrates Balfour Beatty’s resilience and the dedication of our people and partners.
“Our leading positions in large growing infrastructure and construction markets, record year end order book and £1.1bn investments portfolio provide confidence in future cash generation. This underpins our new capital allocation framework which demonstrates Balfour Beatty’s commitment to deliver enhanced returns to shareholders.”