Re Contract

Balfour Beatty PLC
13 April 2006


13 April 2006


                    BIRMINGHAM PFI HOSPITAL GETS THE GO AHEAD
                    =========================================

              Financial close anticipated shortly for £559 million
                         University Hospital, Birmingham
                         -------------------------------

It was announced yesterday that the £559 million University of Birmingham PFI
Hospital scheme had been given the green light to proceed after a Treasury
review. The hospital will be financed, built and operated under a 35-year
concession by Balfour Beatty's PFI healthcare vehicle, Consort Healthcare. The
partners for the scheme are Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC.

The construction work will be carried out by a joint venture between Balfour
Beatty Construction Ltd and Haden Young, the building services arm of the
Balfour Beatty Group. Facilities management will be provided by Haden Building
Management Ltd, another Balfour Beatty subsidiary, under an arrangement that
could yield over £300 million of long-term service revenue.

Financial close is anticipated in the next few weeks.

Consort Healthcare is already the PPP concession company for three major
hospitals, two of which are fully operational. These are the North Durham
Hospital, which was opened in 2001, and the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, which
became fully operational in early 2003. Construction work for the new Blackburn
Hospital is well advanced. Balfour Beatty is also a partner in Health Management
Group, the concession company responsible for the new University College London
Hospital, the first phase of which opened in 2005. It was also in the joint
venture responsible for its construction. Consort Healthcare is also preferred
bidder for the Pinderfields and Pontefract Hospitals in Yorkshire and the
Northern Batched Hospitals scheme in Manchester, which have a combined capital
value of £440 million.

These schemes represent a committed equity investment of £112 million, £50
million of which is in the projects at preferred bidder stage. Consort is also
bidding Fife Hospital at a capital value of £100 million.

Consort Healthcare is a leader in the PPP hospitals market in which it has a
proven track record and high levels of client satisfaction.

                                      ENDS

Enquiries to:

Tim Sharp
Tel: [phone]

www.balfourbeatty.com




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