John Laing profits soar as it sells Intercity Express stake

PROFITS at infrastructure giant John Laing have shot up after it sold a stake in the Intercity Express Programme (IEP) and cashed in on investments overseas.

The company, which helped to build the Optus Stadium in Perth, Australia, unveiled a pre-tax profit boost of 346pc for the six months to June to £174.3m. Shares in the business hit a record high following the news.

It said a “significant” contributor to the hefty profit boost was the sale of its remaining stake in the government-led Intercity Express scheme, which will result in a new fleet of Hitachi-built trains brought to Britain.

The business, which typically invests in projects at the pre-construction stage, also cashed in £9.5m from the sale of its stake in Lambeth Social Housing during the period.

The sale of the two investments helped it rake in proceeds of £241m, up from £151.3m a year ago.

The company also told investors that it reduced its exposure to UK investments during the period as it poured money into projects overseas, a trend chief executive Olivier Brousse said will continue.

The set of results were welcomed by investors, who earlier this year were displeased that they were being asked to cough up £210m to fund its pipeline of new projects. The company said at the time that about 95pc of its project pipeline was outside of the UK.

It told investors at the end of June that it expected a cash boost from the sale of its stake in IEP and Lambeth Social Housing, adding that bidding activity had slowed down compared to the previous year.

However yesterday it said that activity “has since picked up significantly”, with teams busy pitching on projects in every region.