Confident outlook

The UK’s largest engineering consultancy, WS Atkins, has released robust half-year results that indicate continued confidence for the remainder of the fiscal year.

Highlights from the unaudited results include a 12 per cent increase in revenue from £633.8m to £710.8m; a 20 per cent rise in operating profit from £40.1m to £48.2m; and profit after tax of £36.3m, an increase of 15 per cent.

Similarly, normalised diluted earnings per share were up by 18 per cent and will pay an interim dividend of 8.75p per share. The company’s headcount also grew by eight per cent to around 18,322, in line with company policy.

‘These are strong results,’ said Keith Clarke, chief executive of Atkins. ‘While we remain attuned to the wider economic situation, the range of our business and its strength in depth gives us continued confidence for the remainder of this year.

‘Looking further ahead, our secure position allows us to continue to invest in Carbon Critical Design and our focus on excellence has positioned the group to respond with confidence to the challenges and opportunities ahead.’