Engineering and construction firm Kentz said revenue in the first half of the year rose by 9.4 per cent in the first half of the year.

The firm said revenue reached $703.7 million, compared with $643.5 million in the first half of 2011. Pretax profit was up 35.8 per cent to $51.2 million for the six-month period.

Basic earnings per share were 4.5 per cent higher at 28.07 cent

“I am delighted to report that Kentz has delivered another strong performance in the first half of 2012,” chief executive Christian Brown said. “We have achieved increases in revenue, profits and cash flow generated during the period and I am confident that we can deliver full year results in line with market expectations.

During the period under review, Kentz was awarded the $128 million contract for Syncrude's Aurora North Mine Relocation project, expanding its Canadian operations.

It also won a 12-month contract for integrated commissioning services on the Queensland Curtis project in Australia, which comes with an option to extend the contract for a further two years.