THE builder behind the Ordnance Survey’s new headquarters saw its profits soar in the second half of last year.

The parent company of Southampton-based Kier Southern said pretax profit rose 26 percent to £31.3m.

Kier Group said total revenue in the six months to December 31 was up nine per cent to £1.1 billion with more than £4 billion of orders on its books despite a challenging time for the industry.

The completion of the highly acclaimed £40m Ordnance Survey office building at Adanac Park, Nursling, helped its developments division post a £1.7m operating profit.

The 1,000-strong OS workforce left their outdated Maybush offices in Romsey Road, Southampton, to move into the state-of-the-art building just off the M271 in December.

Kier Group, which also specialises in support services and civil engineering, declared an interim dividend of 20p, up eight per cent.

Kier Southern is part of the regional construction arm of the group and operates out of offices in Southampton, Havant, Crawley and Aylesford.

It is nearing completion of Southampton’s landmark new £32m police headquarters for Hampshire Constabulary, which is due to open next week.

Kier said work is also “progressing well” at the £15m Sea City Museum extension to Southampton’s City Centre, which is set to open in April 2012 with an exhibition to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Titanic tragedy.

And a topping out ceremony was held last month for the new £10m three-storey conference Eastpoint Centre in Southampton.

Chief executive Paul Sheffield said: “Kier continues to perform well and in line with expectations despite the current challenging economic environment.”

Kier Southern managing director Phil Durigan said: “The restructured Kier Southern, operating from four offices in the south of England, has come together over the last 12 months to provide a comprehensive construction service across the south of England.

“Kier Southern is well positioned to deal with the economic challenges ahead.”