Carillion plc issued a trading update on July 10, in advance of an interim results announcement on September 10. Profit in Construction Services for the six months to June 30 is likely to be £10m less than expected, owing to difficulties with the Nottingham Express Transit light rail public-private partnership project.
Opening of NET has been put back from November until December or early 2004. Carillion is a partner in the consortium which holds a design-build-operate-maintain concession, and Carillion Construction is providing the infrastructure under a fixed-price contract. Delivery costs have increased, affecting first-half results. Last year Carillion withdrew from tendering for light rail schemes, believing the risk profile to be incompatible with its risk-management strategy.
