LOSSES have narrowed at Balfour Beatty as the construction firm continues to make progress with its turnaround plan under boss Leo Quinn.

Pre-tax losses for the first half of the year came in at £21 million, down from £150m in the same period in 2015. Balfour has been held back by onerous construction contracts that delivered poor returns.

Chief executive Mr Quinn, who has been cutting costs under his Build To Last programme, said: "We are now starting to see tangible benefits from the transformation of Balfour Beatty. Eighteen months into the first phase of Build To Last we have delivered our second successive half of underlying profitability and remain on track to achieve our initial targets of £200m cash in, £100m cost out.

"By concentrating on our selected markets, we are growing our order book within a control environment which ensures that our business decisions lead to sustainable profit and cash growth."

Revenues were broadly flat at £4.1 billion and the firm reinstated its dividend at 0.9p per share.