Shares in AMEC were up on the FTSE 100 in morning trading after the engineering company issued a positive interim statement.

The group said that trading in the year to date had been "in line with expectations" and that full year guidance remains unchanged.

AMEC said that the value of its order book had risen from £3.14 billion at the end of December to £3.25 billion, but had fallen from a year ago when it stood at £3.55 billion.

Group EBITA in 2011 is expected to be maintained at around nine per cent, AMEC, said.

In the first four months of the year AMEC acquired qedi in Great Britain, Zektingroup in Australia and BCI Engineering in the U.S.A. for a total of £76 million.

Samir Brikho, Chief Executive of AMEC, said, "AMEC has performed in line with expectations in the first four months of the year.

"Market sentiment is improving and 2011 is expected to be another year of steady progress for the group. We continue to be well positioned across our portfolio of oil and gas, mining, clean energy, and environmental and water sectors and we remain confident that this will support continued growth, building on our strong client relationships."

"We have completed three acquisitions in 2011 and the pipeline for further acquisitions remains positive."

By 10:20 shares in AMEC were up 1.18 per cent on the FTSE 100 to 1,196.00 pence per share.