{"id":534707,"date":"2025-12-15T11:35:31","date_gmt":"2025-12-15T11:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=534707"},"modified":"2025-12-15T11:35:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T11:35:31","slug":"hs2-slowdown-shrinks-profit-at-ground-engineering-specialist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/financial\/hs2-slowdown-shrinks-profit-at-ground-engineering-specialist-15-12-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"HS2 slowdown shrinks profit at ground engineering specialist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Profit and turnover plummeted at the UK\u2019s biggest ground engineering specialist following a slowdown in activity on HS2.<\/p>\n

Bachy Soletanche \u2013 which is owned by construction conglomerate Vinci<\/a> \u2013 reported a pre-tax profit of \u00a35.9m in the year to 31 December 2024, 60 per cent down on the \u00a315.7m in the prior year.<\/p>\n

The UK\u2019s biggest ground engineering firm<\/a> blamed its financial performance on slowing activity on two \u201csignificant\u201d HS2 contracts.<\/p>\n

Turnover also fell by more than 40 per cent from \u00a3250.2m to \u00a3143.2m, with Bachy Solentache predicting a further fall in 2025.<\/p>\n

Bachy Solentache finance director Graham Trafford said the fall in turnover was \u201cmainly driven by a decrease in activity on two significant contracts on the High Speed Two (HS2) project as the work reduces from its peak\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said the \u201ccombined activity portfolio\u201d of work on the \u00a34.5bn Thames Tideway project and core business activity for local customers had \u201cremained stable\u201d.<\/p>\n

But Trafford forecasted a \u201cdecrease in turnover\u201d in 2025, with further dips in activity to come on HS2 and Thames Tideway.<\/p>\n

Cash was down from \u00a354.5m to \u00a344.4m, and the firm approved dividends of \u00a33m after no dividends the year before.<\/p>\n

Bachy Solentache was appointed to three ground engineering and foundations packages on HS2 in London and the West Midlands, according to its website. It scooped the work in a joint venture with Balfour Beatty Ground Engineering.<\/p>\n

In April 2023 the JV completed its ground engineering and foundation package on HS2\u2019s Old Oak Common Station (pictured), which was valued at between \u00a350m and \u00a3100m, according to HS2 data.<\/p>\n

The JV has also completed foundation work at two overbridges in Staffordshire that will take HS2 under the A38, and is currently working on a third overbridge, the Rykneld Street Bridge.<\/p>\n

In total, the JV won up to \u00a3200m of work on HS2.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Trafford said his firm was targeting \u201cwider segments of large-scale geotechnical works\u201d in the coming years, and had revamped its structure to achieve that.<\/p>\n

It is now organised into three businesses, two for the North and South, and a nationwide major projects division.<\/p>\n

Vinci bought Bachy Solentache in 2007, which in turn bought piling specialist Roger Bullivant in 2011.<\/a><\/p>\n

In its latest annual report, published last week, Roger Bullivant reported profit increased by a third<\/a> following an \u201coverhead restructure\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Profit and turnover plummeted at the UK\u2019s biggest ground engineering specialist following a slowdown in activity on HS2. Bachy Soletanche \u2013 which is owned by construction conglomerate Vinci \u2013 reported a pre-tax profit of \u00a35.9m in the year to 31 December 2024, 60 per cent down on the \u00a315.7m in the prior year. The UK\u2019s …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90643,"featured_media":491219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[549,552,39314,544],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-534707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-civils","category-financial","category-hs2","category-vinci","issue-online-news"],"yoast_head":"\nHS2 slowdown shrinks profit at ground engineering specialist | Construction News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Profit and turnover plummeted at the UK\u2019s biggest ground engineering specialist following a slowdown in activity on HS2. 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