The boss of construction giant Morgan Sindall has branded its year end results as 'disappointing' after a small number of contracts dealt a blow to its performance.

The company, which has offices on Thorpe Road, Norwich, saw pre-tax profits before amortisation fall 19pc to £25.2m to the end of December 2014, while revenues grew 5.9pc to £2.219bn over the same period.

But the group is expecting a brighter year ahead as its order book rose 11pc to £2.7bn.

The firm, which is the parent owner of affordable housing provider Lovell, is currently building an accommodation block for the Norwich University of the Arts next to the city's bus station, and the University of East Anglia's Enterprise Centre.

John Morgan, chief executive, said: 'Whilst there have been strong performances from fit out and urban regeneration, the overall group result for the year is disappointing, having been adversely impacted by a small number of construction contracts in construction and infrastructure.'

He added: 'Looking ahead to 2015, lower returns in construction and infrastructure are expected to remain for at least the first half of the year, as lower margin construction contracts tendered in 2012-2013 are worked through to completion. 'However, the continued positive momentum expected within fit out, affordable housing and urban regeneration, together with further investment programmes in regeneration opportunities, and supported by the improvement in the quality of our order book, provides confidence that the group is well positioned to deliver overall growth in 2015 and beyond.'

Last year, the firm completed work on an £11.5m contract to construct the Centrum building at Norwich Research Park.

It said the dividend for the year is unchanged from 2013 at 27.0p per share.

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