Re Contract

Balfour Beatty PLC
18 October 2006


18 October 2006

                      BALFOUR BEATTY CONSORTIUM APPOINTED
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               PREFERRED BIDDER FOR EXETER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
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       Regional and City Airports Bid Values Exeter International Airport
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                                 at £60 million
                                 --------------

Balfour Beatty, the international engineering, construction and services group,
announces today that its consortium company, Regional and City Airports (RCA)
has been appointed preferred bidder to acquire Exeter and Devon Airport Ltd.,
which owns and operates Exeter International Airport. The total consideration
for the acquisition will be £60 million. RCA is a joint venture between Balfour
Beatty Capital, the group's investment arm, and London City Airport.

Commenting on the appointment today, Balfour Beatty Chief Executive Ian Tyler
said:

'We are delighted to have been selected by Devon County Council as preferred
bidder to acquire Exeter International Airport. Our vision is that Exeter should
become the Airport of choice for the South West Region, based on the efficiency
and quality of its operations. We have extensive experience of creating and
operating successful infrastructure assets in the UK through the PPP process. We
are also highly experienced as an airport infrastructure developer and are
confident in accelerating the growth of the airport in years to come.'

The acquisition will be financed through equity of £30 million, with Balfour
Beatty as the leading investor. The remainder of the consideration will be
satisfied by borrowings, with HSBC as financial adviser and lead arranger.
London City Airport will be responsible for the operational management of the
airport.

The airport has a strong recent growth record and traffic and passenger growth
is forecast to continue, helped by its status as an important base for Flybe.
Exeter International Airport enjoys a strong local economy, a high propensity to
fly and has significant opportunity to increase both its regional market share
and its local penetration. The airport will be substantially redeveloped with
new terminal facilities, new aircraft stands and in the longer term, further
terminal capacity, stand and taxiway development.

Balfour Beatty Capital is an experienced investor, having raised over £7 billion
of funding for its 23 privately financed UK infrastructure projects in which it
has approaching £300 million of committed equity. Balfour Beatty also has a
successful track record in airport infrastructure development. Its professional
and technical services arm has played a key role in the development programmes
at Heathrow, Gatwick and the BAA Scottish Airports. Its construction and
services subsidiaries have undertaken major airport projects at Heathrow,
Gatwick, Stansted, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Hong Kong, Dubai and Miami.

In separate recent developments, a Balfour Beatty joint venture has been
short-listed to bid for two major new privately-financed infrastructure
prospects. In the UK, its joint venture Connect Plus, is one of three
short-listed to bid for the Design, Build, Finance, Operate concession to widen
and maintain the M25 Motorway, over a 30-year period in a contract valued in
excess of £5 billion.

In California the Balfour Beatty consortium, bbm AIRail Transfer has been
short-listed to bid for the Oakland Airport Connector project which will provide
a new rail connection between the Airport and the Bay Area Regional transport
system.

                                      ENDS


Enquiries to:-

Tim Sharp
Tel: [phone]
www.balfour.beatty.com





Notes to Editors

1. Balfour Beatty has a substantial existing investment portfolio, largely
    through the UK PPP/PFI programme. This portfolio consists of:-

- seven major hospitals
- five major schools schemes
- five road and two street lighting projects
- two concessions under the London Underground PPP
- the London Underground power system
- a waste water scheme
- Barking Power Station ( non-PPP)
- Devonport Dockyard (non-PPP)

2. Balfour Beatty Capital develops, owns and operates privately financed
infrastructure projects. It is one of the largest UK private sector
infrastructure investors and has a broad range of skills from project promotion
and development through to financing, project execution and long-term asset
management and operations.

3. Balfour Beatty is a world-class engineering, construction and services group,
well positioned in infrastructure markets which offer significant growth
potential. Its partnerships with public and private customers generate secure,
long-term income. Its financial position, with significant net cash and with
strong operating cash flows, offers continuing flexibility to add additional
capacity and expertise to the business mix and to make appropriate.



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