Sir Robert McAlpine is Newarthill's top earner

Newarthill's contracting arm, branded as Sir Robert McAlpine, has reclaimed its place as the company's top profit generator.

Contracting activities produced an operating profit of almost £43m for the year ended 31 October 2008, on a turnover of £1.25bn.

That put it comfortably ahead of Newarthill's wind energy arm, which posted an operating loss of £2.8m as it suffered the ill-effects of the credit crunch in the US.

Last year the wind energy arm was the company's top earner, ahead of Sir Robert McAlpine, with an operating profit of £27.1m, compared to the £24.7m generated by the contracting arm.

In a review of the business, directors described McAlpine's performance as “another satisfactory year”. It added that the bulk of its £1.25bn turnover came from the retail, commercial, education and leisure sectors.

The review added that the contractor's forward order book, which includes a contract to design and build the £547m main stadium for the London 2012 Olympics, is at a “high level”.

Overall turnover for the Newarthill group stood at nearly £1.7bn for the year, down slightly from just over £1.8bn for the previous year. Meanwhile pre-tax profit dropped 28% from £45.9m in 2007 to just over £33m in 2008.

Cash and short term deposits at the company stood at £302m, with continuing investment in PFI and wind energy causing total bank debt to rise to £589m.

The company employed an average number of 2,937 people for the year, while the highest-paid director received £1,242,643 – a 56% pay rise on the previous year.