Turnover and profit rocket at Bechtel UK

Bechtel’s UK subsidiary has reported a big hike in turnover and profit following a “significant increase” in work. Bechtel Ltd, the London-based arm of the US engineering giant, turned over £267.7m in the year to 31 December 2023 — a 53 per cent increase from £175.2m in 2022. The firm’s pre-tax profit jumped from £3.5m to £22.4m, giving it a profit margin of 8.4 per cent during 2023. In a strategic report accompanying the UK accounts, Jasmine Zaki, Bechtel’s senior legal counsel until July 2024, said the increased revenue was due to a “significant increase in the value of services provided to certain overseas projects”. During the year Bechtel Ltd earned £56.6m from projects in the UK, compared with £74m from Middle Eastern clients and £70.4m from clients in Asia. The group also made £50.6m for projects in Europe and £16m for work in the Americas. The company, which provides design, engineering, procurement and construction services, has not specified what projects its UK subsidiary is involved with. However, the report said its UK projects include transport and telecoms, energy transition and national defence.Bechtel employed 594 staff in the UK last year, up from 503 a year earlier. The firm’s UK directors received a total of £1.4m in salaries, bonuses and pension payments in 2023, with the highest-paid director handed a package worth £476,000.Bechtel Corporation is family-owned and based in Virginia, US. The group has yet to publish its global results for 2023, but turned over $16.8bn (£12.8bn) worldwide in 2022.