{"id":501360,"date":"2024-06-25T13:00:10","date_gmt":"2024-06-25T12:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=501360"},"modified":"2024-06-25T13:00:10","modified_gmt":"2024-06-25T12:00:10","slug":"balfour-boss-embarrassed-if-margin-doesnt-double","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/contractors\/balfour-beatty\/balfour-boss-embarrassed-if-margin-doesnt-double-25-06-2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Balfour boss \u2018embarrassed\u2019 if margin doesn\u2019t double"},"content":{"rendered":"

Balfour Beatty chief executive Leo Quinn has said he would be \u201cembarrassed\u201d if the company does not double its roughly 2 per cent margin \u201cin the current environment\u201d.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking on The Investor Download Podcast, published by asset manager Schroders, Quinn also said the UK\u2019s largest contractor is undervalued given major forthcoming public infrastructure investment and changes to its contracting style.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cShareholders look at the company [but] I don\u2019t really think they fully appreciate or understand the value,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have a decade of infrastructure growth which we\u2019re going to capitalise on and remember: we are the biggest player in that market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quinn added: \u201cIf you look at energy security, you look at transportation, you look at defence security, we\u2019re sort of front and centre and, of course, within all of that you\u2019ve got this nuclear component.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make a 2 per cent margin. I can\u2019t give you a forecast, but I\u2019d be embarrassed if we couldn\u2019t double that in the current environment given the way that our order book over time has changed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[It has changed] from a hard bid, fixed-price, lump-sum type of market to a two-phase, whereby you actually work with the client to do the initial specification and costings and then you commit to a price after you\u2019ve done all of the engineering and the research.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Quinn also said Balfour Beatty has been undertaking major share buyback programmes, as it is an efficient way to return value to shareholders when, as he believes, the shares are undervalued.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe [will have] bought back half our market capitalisation by the end of 2025. The only thing that we\u2019ve done wrong is we should have bought the company personally, three years ago, and benefited from that,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The podcast comments came days before the 67-year-old executive bought shares in Balfour Beatty worth \u00a3129,696.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On Friday (21 June) Quinn purchased 37,148 shares for \u00a33.49 each via the London Stock Exchange, according to a regulatory notice published by Balfour.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the purchase came 38 days after Quinn sold 189,921 shares at a higher price – \u00a33.85 – on 15 May for a combined \u00a3730,421. Balfour Beatty\u2019s share price fell by 6.05 per cent between Quinn selling and buying shares, although it has risen by 8.88 per cent in total over the past six months.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The group has seen its share price rise by around 46 per cent since June 2015, when Quinn rejoined as chief executive. Quinn had earlier started his career as a graduate trainee at Balfour Beatty.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Balfour Beatty chief executive Leo Quinn has said he would be \u201cembarrassed\u201d if the company does not double its roughly 2 per cent margin \u201cin the current environment\u201d.\u00a0 Speaking on The Investor Download Podcast, published by asset manager Schroders, Quinn also said the UK\u2019s largest contractor is undervalued given major forthcoming public infrastructure investment and …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90383,"featured_media":339147,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[527],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n