27 June 2013

Costain, one of the UK's leading Tier One engineering solutions providers, today issues a pre-close trading update ahead of its interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2013, which will be announced on Thursday 22 August 2013.

Trading update
In the first half of the year, Costain has been awarded new contracts and extensions worth more than £900 million to the Group, and is on-course to deliver a result for the year which is in-line with the Board’s expectations.

The Group has continued to focus on ‘Engineering Tomorrow’: its commitment to delivering innovative, value-driven solutions to meet urgent and complex national requirements. Only a select group of companies in the UK meet the stringent criteria demanded by blue chip customers, who increasingly work only with suppliers who can deliver a full spectrum of services across the life cycle of a project.

As a consequence, the forward order book has increased from £2.4 billion as at 31 December 2012 to £2.9 billion. In addition, Costain continues to maintain a strong preferred bidder position of over £500 million. As at the end of the first half, over £850 million of revenue has been secured for 2013. Awards announced during the first half of the year include appointment to Thames Water’s AMP6 investment programme; the Hammersmith Flyover strengthening project as part of an Early Contractor Involvement framework for Transport for London; and a contract to design, fit-out and commission the railway systems for Crossrail.

Lapse of proposed all-share merger with May Gurney Integrated Services plc
On 30 May 2013 the Board of Costain confirmed that the proposed merger with May Gurney Integrated Services plc which was announced on 26 March 2013 had lapsed in accordance with its terms.

Interim Results
Costain will announce interim results for the six months ended 30 June 2013 on Thursday 22 August 2013.  There will be a presentation to analysts at 11am that morning at the offices of College Hill: The Registry, Royal Mint Court, London, EC3.

Ends