Shares in Balfour Beatty were up on the FTSE 250 in afternoon trading after the construction company reported a rise in revenue and pre-tax profit in the full year ended 31 December 2010.

Revenue increased three per cent in the period to £9.2 billion while pre-tax profit before exceptional items increased 21 per cent to £338 million. After exceptional items pre-tax profit declined 30 per cent to £206 million.

The group said it would be raising its full year dividend six per cent to 12.7 pence per share.

Balfour Beatty's order book was valued at £15.2 billion at the end of the year, up eight per cent from the previous year.

Net cash at the end of the year was reported to be £435 million, up from £283 million at the end of 2009.

Ian Tyler, Chief Executive of Balfour Beatty, said, "We are pleased with the resilient set of results achieved in challenging market conditions in a number of our major markets. The diversity and strength of the Group is evident in the overall performance, and the successful integration of Parsons Brinckerhoff has driven our growth.

"We have started 2011 with a record order book, a focus on cost and operational delivery and the intention to generate additional profits from PPP asset disposals. While we do not expect, in the short term, a meaningful recovery in the UK and US infrastructure markets, we expect to make progress this year.

"Over the medium and long term, we expect global infrastructure to be a growth market. We have put in place a clear strategy, and the Group is well-placed to benefit from the growth in this market based on our depth of infrastructure knowledge, breadth of capability and the strength of our balance sheet."

By 15:05 shares in Balfour Beatty were up 3.31 per cent on the FTSE 250 to 352.80 pence per share.