BAM order book holds as energy wins lift start to year

Royal BAM Group has reported a stronger start to 2026, with first-quarter revenue and adjusted EBITDA increasing compared with the same period last year and its total order book holding at €13bn.

The Dutch construction group said both divisions and Belgium contributed to the improved adjusted EBITDA position, while Construction UK continued to improve through stronger project execution and a disciplined approach to tendering. The group also reiterated its outlook for 2026, with further growth in revenue and adjusted EBITDA expected.

BAM’s order book remained at the same level as year-end 2025, with the company maintaining a focus on quality above volume. Recent work has included project wins in energy transition and defence, two areas becoming increasingly important to the balance of major contractor pipelines across the UK and Europe.

The update follows a period in which large contractors have become more selective about risk, contract form, client profile, and project complexity. After several years of inflation, supply-chain instability, and subcontractor distress, order-book size alone has become a less reliable guide to contractor strength. The quality, margin profile, and risk allocation of that work now carry more weight than simple volume.

BAM’s UK operation has been building around public-sector, education, civils, infrastructure, and regulated-market opportunities. Recent UK activity includes school, leisure, civil engineering, and framework work, including places on public-sector construction and infrastructure procurement routes. That shape of workload gives the business exposure to long-term investment rather than depending entirely on a recovery in private commercial development.

The direction is consistent with a wider shift among major contractors. IN Site recently covered how Balfour Beatty is targeting grid and defence growth, with regulated infrastructure, power, and secure public-sector work becoming more prominent in large contractor strategies. BAM’s update sits in the same market pattern, where energy transition and complex public infrastructure are carrying more of the forward workload.

Energy-related work brings a different construction risk profile. Transmission, substations, grid connections, energy infrastructure, and associated civils require technical coordination, live-network constraints, environmental controls, access planning, and specialist M&E interfaces. Defence work carries its own pressures around security, governance, assurance, and long project cycles. These markets can provide durable demand, but they require stronger risk control than simpler building programmes.

The emphasis on disciplined tendering is therefore material. Contractors are still operating in a market where labour pressure, material costs, insurance, design development, and subcontractor capacity can erode margins if bids are priced too aggressively. A high-value order book only supports performance if contracts are procured on terms that allow risk to be managed through delivery.

BAM’s first-quarter update also points to a more cautious definition of growth. The group is not presenting volume for its own sake as the objective. It is prioritising sectors with long-term investment, clients with stronger funding positions, and projects where technical capability can support margin. That approach reflects a construction market still recovering from the consequences of chasing turnover through thin-margin work.

The coming quarters will show whether improved UK execution can be sustained while public-sector and infrastructure demand increases. Energy, defence, schools, and civic projects provide a route to steadier workload, but they also increase pressure on specialist supply chains, design teams, and project controls. For BAM, the opportunity is clear enough: hold discipline while converting a strong order book into reliable delivery.