Chief executive Andrew Davies said that average monthly net debt had remained around the same £436m level reported last July in a trading update this morning for the first half of its financial year.

He added that this still gave the business sufficient liquidity headroom as the group generated positive adjusted operating cash flow.

Kier said it continued to make progress with the sale of its housing arm Kier Living , which was put on the block over 18 months ago.

Private equity tycoon Guy Hands is rumoured to be among the bidders trying to buy Kier Living, which suffered a pre-tax loss of more than £89m last year.

Kier is hoping to receive around £100m for the business helping to reduce debt.

The group, which has a market capitalisation of just £122m, also said it continued to consider a potential equity raise.

Davies said Kier expected to deliver at least £105m in cost savings by the end of the financial year as it continued to look for additional cost-saving measures.

“The group continues to win high-quality work in our chosen markets resulting in a strong order book which is slightly above year-end levels, despite the difficult trading environment due to the pandemic,” said Kier’s statement.

“The projects awarded consist of those which have been bid and delivered under our increased transparency, governance and controls.”

Kier has secured places on long-term frameworks worth up to £11bn, across a number of sectors including, health, education and justice. In addition, several existing frameworks were extended by 12 months.

In the last few weeks, it secured an 8-year maintenance contract worth £200m with Transport for London.