Costain profits double to £17m in first half

Costain doubled pre-tax profit to £17m in the first half of the year as operating margins strengthened across the business to a group-wide 2.5%.
On the back of the strong performance and cash position, chief executive Alex Vaughan announced a £10m share buy-back to start with immediate effect.
Revenue at the contractor slipped 4% to £639m in the first six months to June largely because of a fall at the highways business, partially offset by growth at the Natural Resources divis