£4.4m profit for Babtie

Babtie Group, the technical and management consultant, has announced a pre-tax profit of £4.4m (£4.0m) for 1999 on a turnover that climbed to £95m (£74m).

Henry Perfect, chairman, said: "There is a growing opportunity for our services, with more projects being won through a combination of quality and cost rather than just the lowest cost alone.

"As market competition increases, we are well placed to meet the challenges by providing a wider and more integrated service."

Babtie merged Allott & Lomax into the group in January 2000, a move that creates a consultancy with 3,000 staff and which is expected to achieve a turnover of £120m in 2000.

During 1999, Babtie was involved as designer to the D154 Alliance, building the new docking facilities at Devonport for the Navy's submarine fleet. It also designed the new Humber Sea Terminal which includes a 11,200t floating pontoon; a bridge assessment programme for Railtrack Scotland; and management of safety issues in the nuclear decommissioning of Dounreay.

In outsourcing, Babtie has partnerships with 17 local authorities with turnover in this business division reaching £43m. Kent County Council's highways consultancy team has joined the group, bringing 200 new staff on board. There were also traffic and transport term contracts for Bexley in London.

Babtie's infrastructure consultancy business was appointed management advisor to First Group for the City of Edinburgh Rapid Transit project. A further award was for the new crossing of the River Forth at Kincardine.

The Asian Development Bank appointed Babtie for the 82km Manila North Toll road in the Philippines.