Costain’s £10m bill for roof fix slashes profits

Builder Costain bore the scars of repair works on a legacy project on Wednesday as first-half profits fell by more than half.

The firm was forced to pay out £9.7 million for works on the roof of the huge national synchrotron laboratory in Oxfordshire, which it completed in 2006.

This financial hit, as well as delays to other projects, triggered a profit warning which virtually halved the share price in June.

Pre-tax profits sank from £19.9 million to £8.4 million for the six months to June 30.

The shares bounced 12%, or 17.9p, to 163.3p today as Costain remains on track to meet lowered expectations, although the shares are still down 50% this year.