City confident as new chief joins Atkins

The appointment of Keith Clarke as chief executive and a promising operational performance restored some of the City's faith in Atkins. Shares jumped from 257.5p last Thursday morning to 287.5p by the end of the day.

Clarke's last day as executive vice president of Skanska will be 31 August. He will join Atkins on 1 October, bringing to a close a nine-month search to replace former chief executive Robin Southwell.

Chairman Michael Jeffries said: "With his experience of major projects, I believe that he has the capabilities to lead Atkins through its next phase of development."

Clarke told CJ: "I'm 51. It's a good time to make a move. I wasn't looking for a job, but you can reach a point as a manager where you become stale. Atkins is in a different field and I find that exciting.

"Atkins has a strong ethos and capabilities, and there is a real opportunity to look at new areas - but I won't divulge those," he added.

Clarke said he had no worries about joining Atkins after such a troubled year for the firm. Exceptional costs totalled 64.5m, comprising 14.8m relating to cost reduction and restructuring, 33.3m of asset impairments in North America, and 16.4m was written off the carrying value of shares held in employee benefit trusts.

The billing nightmare has ceased. Jeffries said: "We have caught up with our billing and credit control and in this respect we are now in a better position than we have achieved in previous years."

Atkins' net debt has been cut from 105.4m a year ago to 71.9m.