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Balfour Beatty awarded road, rail and social housing contracts to the value of £360 million

Balfour Beatty, the international, engineering, construction and services Group announces today that it has been awarded contracts to a total value of over £360 million in the road, rail and social housing sectors. The group is to widen the M1 from Junction 6A to Junction 10 for the Highways Agency, upgrade social housing in Newcastle and extend the railway network in Sweden.

Commenting on these contracts today Balfour Beatty Chief Executive, Ian Tyler said, “These contracts demonstrate the strength of Balfour Beatty’s presence in infrastructure markets. We are working closely with the Highways Agency on several aspects of its forward programme, including construction, widening and maintenance. We are a top-three player in the social housing market for which the government has pledged some £47 billion over the next five years. We are also a leading supplier to a number of European rail network owners as they upgrade and extend their assets”.

M1 WIDENING

Under a £241 million early contractor involvement contract, Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering has been selected, in joint venture with Skanska, to widen the M1 motorway between junction 6A at the M25 and Junction 10, at Luton. Preparation and design work will commence shortly with construction scheduled to begin towards the end of the year.

The M1 through Hertfordshire carries an average of 160,000 vehicles per day with long delays at peak times. The widening will improve safety, reduce congestion and deliver greater journey time reliability.

The work will be carried out on both carriageways to bring it up to a full standard four-lane motorway with continuous hard shoulders. There will be new interchanges at Junctions 8 and 9 and distribution roads will be constructed to improve traffic flows through Junction 8.

SOCIAL HOUSING IN NEWCASTLE

Mansell, acquired by Balfour Beatty at the end of 2003 and a leading player in the social housing market, has been awarded a contract with an estimated value of £70 million to refurbish 34 multi-storey housing blocks, involving approaching 3000 homes, and 10,000 traditional houses by Your Homes Newcastle, which is responsible for the £600 million six-year Decent Homes Programme in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.

Mansell Partnership Housing, the company’s specialist social housing arm, was the national “Partnering Contractor of the Year” at the 2004 Housing Excellence Awards. Work on the Newcastle Scheme will begin in the spring.

SWEDISH RAIL

Balfour Beatty Rail has been awarded two contracts in Sweden, in joint venture, with a total value of approximately £50 million. The contracts are for the construction of about 110 kilometres of track between Nyland and Husum in the northern part of Sweden and the electrification of the 120 kilometre railway line between Kristianstad and Karlskrona along the Blekinge coastline in southern Sweden.

Notes to Editors

1. Balfour Beatty has carried out a range of major widening projects in recent years, including:

   M25	Junctions 12-15	£148 million
   M25	Junctions 8-10	£93 million
   M20	Junctions 5-6	£70 million
   M6	Junctions 30-32	£37 million
   M25	Junctions 10-13	£30 million

2. Balfour Beatty is the UK’s leading road management maintenance company with responsibility for Highways Agency Areas 2, 3 and 4, together stretching from the West Country to the Kent coast, and for a number of local authorities including North Yorkshire and Hampshire.

3. Balfour Beatty has four Early Contractor Involvement schemes for the Highways Agency, being:

   A303	Stonehenge	£190 million
   A3	Hindhead	£130 million
   A46	Newark	£110 million
   A1	Weatherby	£40 million

4. Balfour Beatty has a portfolio of four Design, Build, Finance and Operate road schemes under the UK government’s PFI programme. These are the M1/A1 Link in Yorkshire, the A30/A35 in Devon and Dorset, the A50 in Derbyshire and the M77 in Glasgow.

5. Mansell Partnership Housing is the group’s specialist social housing arm with annual sales of approximately £150 million. The government has pledged £47 billion to upgrading affordable housing in the period to 2010.

6. Balfour Beatty is the world’s largest fixed rail infrastructure contractor with a substantial presence in a number of continental European markets including Germany, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Austria.

7. Balfour Beatty is a world-class engineering, construction and services group, well positioned in infrastructure markets which offer significant growth potential. Its partnerships with public and private customers generate secure, sustainable income. Its financial position, with significant net cash and with strong operating cash flows, offers continuing flexibility to add additional capacity and expertise to the business mix and to make appropriate investments in PPP and other long-term growth opportunities.