Engineering and product management consultancy Atkins on Wednesday said it was trading in line with expectations despite challenging market conditions.

The FTSE 250 company has faced difficult trading conditions over the past three months, particularly in North American, according to a business update.

Nevertheless, Atkins reported it was on track to deliver net funds exceeding £110m in March.

UK trading was one of the biggest revenue drivers, with the group's rail business, water and environment operations and defence and aerospace work progressing well.

During the period Atkins secured further design work for highways and transportation including the M25 motorway.

The Asia and Europe units businesses also produced strong results with an increased headcount in project consultancy arm Faithful+Gould.

The energy division continued to perform well in the period with headcount growing by more than 15% since the start of the year.

Business in the Middle East, on the other hand, experienced setbacks as negotiation of outstanding contract variations continued to be a challenge, impacting short-term profitability and cash flow.

"The group continues to trade in line with our expectations and despite challenging conditions in a number of markets our outlook for the full year remains unchanged," the company said in a statement.

RD

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