Balfour Beatty profit falls 32 pct due to weak UK construction

LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - British construction firm Balfour Beatty reported a 32 percent fall in its underlying pre-tax profit on Thursday due to challenging conditions in UK construction and a downturn in the Australian natural resources sector.

The firm reported pre-tax profit of 187 million pounds ($312.86 million) in the year to Dec. 31, above consensus expectations, with revenue up 2 percent at 10.1 billion pounds. ($1 = 0.5977 British pounds)

(Reporting By Costas Pitas)

((Costas.Pitas@thomsonreuters.com)(+44 207 542 8024)(Reuters Messaging: costas.pitas.thomsonreuters@reuters.net and @Cpitas on Twitter))

Keywords: BALFOURBEATTY RESULTS