Balfour Beatty (LSE: BBY) announced this morning that it has been awarded a £154 million contract to carry out the full transformation works to the London 2012 Olympic Stadium. The new award includes the £41 million contract for the stadium roof that Balfour Beatty was awarded in summer 2013.
The transformation project will convert the stadium into a multi-use venue, which will host the 2015 Rugby World Cup and which will be permanent home of West Ham United Football Club from 2016, as well as becoming the new national competition stadium for athletics in the UK.
At peak, the project will employ up to 400 people, with people from the Newham area being employed where possible and apprenticeships comprising 7% of the total workforce.
Commenting on the contract, chief executive Andrew McNaughton said:
“We are delighted to be continuing our activity at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park supporting the legacy commitment made as part of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“During construction, our firm commitment to the use of local labour and the creation of apprenticeships will continue to benefit the local community and the wider industry and, upon completion, the Stadium will provide a first-class sporting and cultural facility for many generations to come. Balfour Beatty is proud to be associated with this project.“
Shareholders will be hoping that the contract will also transform Balfour Beatty’s share price, which, despite gains in the past few months, languishes at much the same level as this time year and is 15% down over the past five years, trailing the FTSE 100 index’s 10% and almost 50% gains over the same periods.
