LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Construction outfit Morgan Sindall said trading had "remained strong" in the second half of the year and it was on track to deliver a full-year performance in line with its rebased expectations.
Margins improved at the core construction and infrastructure division, which is now expected to achieve at least 2% in the second half - a touch above the 1.7% reported in its last interim report and the 1.1% recorded at the end of its previous full year.

However, management's increasing level of selectivity over contracts and focus on quality of earnings meant the committed order book slid 11% to £3.4bn as of 31 September, also down 8% since end-March. The regeneration and development pipeline stood at £3.3bn, down 2% since the half year but up 2% from a year ago.

The office fit-out business was set to deliver its expected revenue and profit growth performance for the year despite a 13% squeeze in the order book to £470m.

The FTSE Smallcap-listed firm's balance sheet remained strong with average daily net cash for the year expected to be in excess of £90m.

Back in May, Morgan Sindall said it was set to deliver 2018 results that are "slightly ahead" of its previous expectations following another strong performance from its fit-out division.

As of 0920 BST, Morgan Sindall shares had slipped 3.88% to 1,140p.

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