Costain lands contracts worth £35m

ENGINEERING and construction company Costain is expected to unveil two major contract wins alongside interim results on Wednesday.

The group has been tendering for major capital works programmes in the water sector. It is believed to have won a couple of contracts each worth £35m a year for an initial five-year period.

Costain is already market leader in infrastructure programmes for water companies, and analysts expect it to be a big beneficiary when the next major investment drive gets under way next April.

Half-time results are expected to show Costain is on track for profits of £18.5m this year.

Investors will be eager to hear about a return to dividend payments by the company, which has been unable to make payouts because of a troubled financial past.

Management, headed by chief executive Stuart Doughty, needs court approval to enable payments to be resumed, and analysts expect a dividend next year.

In a trading update in June, Costain, which is working on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, said it had made good progress.