Turnover up for Bouygues but profit down

Profits at the construction arm of French corporate Bouygues fell by almost a third to £41million in the first three months of the year on turnover up 4 per to £1.98billion.

The group said its performance was effected by problems on the Gautrain rapid rail project in South Africa and falling income on cash surpluses because of low interest rates.

Bouygues said orders taken in the first three months of 2009 compared to the same period last year dropped 30%, but were stable compared to the previous quarter at £1.9billion. The construction order book stands at £10.5billion. It also lowered its sales forecast for the construction arm by 5 per cent to £7.8billion in 2009.