Despite completing the London 2012 Olympic stadium, booked profits plummeted 38% to £19m in the year ending October 2011.

But several big projects like the Olympic Stadium, Manchester Metropolitan and Northumbria Universities helped lift turnover 10% to £743m.

Results for the contractor’s private holding company Newarthill group show it ended the year with £300m cash and staff levels virtually the same as last year at 1,956.

The group said: “Although it is expected that the UK construction market will remain challenging, our strong balance sheet, stable and significant cash balances, combined with negligible borrowing leave the group in an excellent position to exploit profitable opportunities as they arise.”

This year McAlpine has picked up the two biggest London building contracts let in 2012, a £450m contract for Bloomberg’s new head quarters and the £650m new US Embassy in joint venture with US partner B L Harbert.