A not so strange sense of déjà vu at Balfour Beatty

Outlook

That cliche about London buses – the one that says you wait for ever for one to arrive only for three or four to appear at once – well, Balfour Beatty profit warnings are a bit like that. The latest warns of a shortfall of somewhere between £120m and £150m and you could almost hear the sighs of relief from those tempted by the offer of a merger with rival Carillion, which Balfour beat back last year.

On the flipside Balfour managed to generate a healthy £200m in cash and is starting to raise hopes that future trading updates may be rather more reliable than those buses usually are.