But bosses at the contractor are confident of an upturn in the year ahead.

UK operations make up the majority of the Europe division which saw profits fall to £2.8m from £12.2m last time as turnover stayed steady at £670.7m from £666.7m.

Construction margins fell to 0.4% from 1.8% during the year to June 30 2016.

Profits were up at the development arm to £69.8m from £35.1m on turnover up to £215.9m from £168.3m.

Neil Martin, Managing Director of Construction for Europe, said: “We’ve been selected for some fantastic contracts this year, including the prestigious Copperas Hill building at Liverpool John Moores University and a major refurbishment of White City Place in West London.

“The underlying business has performed well and has a healthy outlook reflected in the quality of our pipeline.”