the UK government's green light in February of the London-to-Birmingham high speed rail megaproject (HS2), despite its controversial escalating cost, will be “transformative” for the country’s largest contractor Balfour Beatty Group, said CEO Leo Quinn in his March 11 report of 2019 year-end results.

奎因说，虽然他将美国作为去年的“增长最快的市场”，但明年我们添加HS2时，英国积压的实际上将翻一番。”奎因说。

BB的销售和营业利润在去年上涨了8％，分别为108亿美元和2.845亿美元。

建造services accounted for $8.9 billion with the largest share, $4.8 billion generated in the US. Operating profit margins in the U.K. and US were in the national “industry standard range” of 2.1% and 1.4%, he said.

去年的订单上涨了13％，主要是由于美国市场上的25％，其中包括去年5月赢得17亿美元合同的45％，以建立德克萨斯州635 LBJ EAST项目。

Inking the Deal

But HS2 is the biggest deal on BB’s horizon.

在与法国Vinci集团的平等合资企业中，BB赢得了冠军，但尚未签署，两项与项目所有者HS2 Ltd的合同。一项涵盖了伯明翰附近的高速线路部分，价值约77亿美元。另一个是伦敦Oak Common Station的较小收费建筑管理奖。

奎因说，将于今年春季签署的主要建筑合同包括“平衡的方法分配风险的方法”。

Working to a target price, the award includes a guaranteed, undisclosed fee that can be increased by two points for early or under budget delivery, with the contractor risking only a one-point maximum fee drop for late or over budget performance.

奎因预计合同的行业平均利润更好，预测利润率为3-4％。他补充说：“这将在很大程度上依赖客户与承包商之间的紧密工作关系。”

冠状病毒风险出现

But one risk out of BB’s control is the Covid-19 virus, now spreading slowly through the U.K.

承包商的所有站点都在行动不足。然而，奎因报告说，通过频道隧道在英格兰和法国之间安装1 gw电源连接的2.47亿美元合同潜在延迟。t

该项目的意大利有线电视供应商的测试工程师受罗马政府施加的严格移动限制的阻碍，而来自中国的塔塔也延迟了一个单独的BB电力项目。

Quinn also disclosed that Balfour Beatty is convening twice-weekly executive-level meetings related to virus risks to its estimated 336 project sites and 14,000 domestic employees, according to UK industry publication Building, which says it is the major UK contractor to publicly state it might have to close UK project sites if the outbreak worsens there.

他说：“如果我们认为必须关闭一个网站，我们会。”“我们非常仔细地监视情况。”

奎因（Quinn）指出，如果关闭站点，工人被送回家或因建筑材料进口到该国而延迟的工作，该公司正在审查责任问题。

Whiile Building reports that China and Italy are the leading exporters to the UK, Quinn said Balfour Beatty depends largely on domestically-based supply chains in Britain and in the US.