Sustainability report 2009
About Balfour Beatty
Infrastructure is a long-term business offering outstanding opportunities.
Balfour Beatty has created a high-quality business operating throughout the infrastructure lifecycle, with strong positions in major markets.
Our four market-leading businesses − in Professional services, Construction services, Support services and Infrastructure investments − are mutually reinforcing.
And we are well diversified across markets and geographies. This gives us the resilience and agility to prosper throughout the economic cycle.
Our model
Together our four businesses provide a full range of infrastructure services. Where they meet, we are at our most competitive and capable.
Balfour Beatty has maintained revenue and profit growth throughout the financial crisis. We have demonstrated our resilience and can face the future with even greater capability, a strong balance sheet based on robust cash generation, and excellent long-term prospects.
In 2009, we took important steps forward in all these areas. In particular, we transformed our capabilities in professional services, redefined our business in four new segments, rolled-out our 2020 sustainability vision and roadmap and reinforced our shared culture and values.
Balfour Beatty plc’s head office is located in London, UK. We operate in over 100 countries around the world.
2009 in numbers
Revenues1
£10.3bn
Order book
£14.1bn
Total employees
50,000
Average net cash
£283m
Pre-tax profit2
£267m
1 Including joint ventures and associates.
2 Before exceptional items and amortisation of intangible assets. For further information see annualreport09.balfourbeatty.com
Integrating Parsons Brinckerhoff
Our acquisition of Parsons Brinckerhoff (PB) in October 2009 transformed our professional services capabilities for the management of large complex projects in the transportation, power, building and water sectors. PB enhances our global reach and gives us strong positions in the US, Australia and the emerging markets in South–East Asia as well as in the UK power sector.
We are excited about the opportunities that PB will bring us in terms of delivering our sustainability vision and roadmap. Their expertise brings real opportunity to deliver a range of sustainability solutions for our customers in terms of renewables such as wind, hydro and geothermal as well as emerging technologies such as carbon capture and storage, tidal energy and climate change adaptation solutions. We also have the opportunity to learn from each other regarding training courses and HR practices.
During 2010, PB will be developing and implementing plans to deliver our Zero Harm and sustainability visions as well as our ethics and values programme. We will report progress in next year’s report. An acquisition of this size does of course carry with it a number of risks. The enforcement of ethics and values in other markets and geographies will be subject to different cultures, and the potential for fraud, bribery and corruption. Sustainability failure in one part of the enlarged group could have reputational impacts elsewhere in the Company. Customers may also wish to keep professional services and construction services separate thus minimising the synergies of more sustainable thinking in the early stages of project conception and planning.