Construction group Kier (LON:KIE) saw shares plunge over 5 percent on Thursday morning, despite reporting strong performance across its property and service divisions.

The group reported a 4 percent increase in pre-tax profits, hitting £48.8 million in the six months to the end of December. Revenue rose 5 percent to £2,154 million, with underlying operating profit also up 5 percent to £60 million.

Kier attributed the strong performance to its property division, which continued to perform ahead of its 15 percent ROCE target. The residential division’s return on capital made progressed toward its 15 percent target.

However the group’s figures were hit hard by a 7 percent drop in revenue in the construction division, as project delays in the second half of the year impacted on results.

The firm proposed an interim dividend of 23.0p, up 2% from the prior period, while basic earnings per share was 41.0p, up 3% from 39.7p.

Haydn Mursell, chief executive, said the Group was “performing well”, adding that its £9.5 billion Construction and Services order book, combined with our £3.5bn pipeline in the Property and Residential divisions, “provides good visibility of work over the medium term.”

“The Group’s performance reflects the strength of our business model and our financial and operational disciplines. Our portfolio of businesses provides balance and resilience and our approach to risk management is evident in the margin performance we have delivered over many years. We remain on course to deliver double-digit profit growth in 2018 and to achieve our Vision 2020 strategic targets.”

Shares in Kier Group are currently trading down 5.47 percent at 1,019 (0926GMT).