17 March 2023
RMT Press Office:
RMT members working in engineering for Balfour Beatty will take strike action tonight in a row over pay.
It will be the third 36-hour stoppage after members rejected the company's 5.5% pay offer from April 2022.
Balfour Beatty has just released its latest financial information from last year which shows huge profits and dividends for shareholders.
Some of the eye watering figures include:
In 2022, the company reported a 42% increase in underlying profit from operations, which was £279 million compared to £197 million the year previous.
There was an 8% increase in order book at £17.4 billion.
There was a 17% increase in the recommended full year dividend at 10.5 pence per share (3.5p interim dividend and 7p final dividend). If the recommended final dividend is approved this would bring the total dividends for the year to £61 million.
The company confirmed a £150 million share buyback for the third consecutive year.
The share buyback programme and recommended final dividend announced as part of the 2022 results brings the cumulative return to shareholders since the introduction in 2021 of a multi-year capital allocation framework to £570 million.
The company expects that 2023 profit from operations to be broadly in line with 2022.
In 2022 Balfour Beatty was ranked the third most profitable UK construction company.
RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said: "Balfour Beatty is swimming in money and could easily afford a pay rise which deals with the cost-of-living crisis for our members.
"These highly skilled workers do an incredibly important job and must be rewarded properly.
"We will continue our industrial campaign until we get a negotiated deal on pay."
Strike action will begin at 10pm on 17 March and end 9.59am Sunday 19 March.
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