ENGINEERING group Balfour Beatty today said its order book boomed last year as it forecast healthy trading in 2005.

Balfour said orders grew substantially to '6.5bn against '5.8bn last year, with about a further '1bn of construction work at preferred bidder stage.

It said it performed well in the building sector, winning a number of big contracts and preferred bidder positions on major new Public Private Partnership school and health schemes in Birmingham, Nottinghamshire, Scotland and Yorkshire.

It said its recently acquired Mansell construction business performed at expected levels and continued to grow. The group said it made particularly good progress in its utilities contracting and roads management and maintenance operations, winning a '300m Highways Agency deal late in 2004.

Balfour said it settled the handover of rail maintenance contracts to Network Rail on satisfactory terms. Tweet