Construction group Morgan Sindall announced a sixth year of record results and hinted that a future acquisition was in the pipeline.

Profits at the company, which has a centre in Brighton, rose to £15.4 million in the year to December 31, up on the £10.1 million in the same period in 1999.

Turnover increased from £521 million to £655 million.

Chairman John Morgan said much of the success was down to the Government's commitment to low-cost housing, which he believed the group was "ideally positioned to benefit" from.

The scheme will see the building of 220 mixed tenure homes over the next three years.

Mr Morgan said: "The results are probably better than market expectations and I believe 2001 can be even better."

He added the group's order book had improved by 49 per cent in the last year to £406 million while profits had now jumped 300 per cent in the last five years.

And he hinted the ongoing success was likely to result in an acquisition