Confidence over an industry recovery in the UK encouraged Olympic engineer WS Atkins to start hiring staff in the second half of last year.
The consultancy told City analysts it would hit expectations for its full-year results, explaining: “The UK region ended the year well.” Britain makes up about half of Atkins’ revenues, and Espirito Santo analyst David Brockton said: “This provides confidence that this region has stabilised.”
Atkins advised on the construction and design of temporary Olympics venues.
In the Middle East, where it was involved in building Dubai’s Burj al Arab, Atkins said it was enjoying “strong market conditions”. The region now provides about 10% of earnings and Atkins added: “Geographic and sector diversification continues to provide resilience which will be reflected in results for the year.”
City analysts expect Atkins to post a 3% fall in pre-tax profit to £99.6 million for the year to April. Brockton said: “Budgetary pressures persist across several of Atkins’ regions. However the group has continually reallocated resources ... and its prospects are steadily improving.” The shares rose 4p to 712p.
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