DESIGN and engineering firm WS Atkins said pre-tax profits fell by almost 6% after a year in which it cut staff numbers by 10%.

Restructuring and higher pension costs hit performance as pre-tax profits fell to £96.6m in the year to May 31 from £102.7m last time.

Atkins said its operations had performed well – but said it was now prepared for Government spending cuts.

The company responded to reduced market demand during the financial year by cutting staff numbers from 17,400 to 15,600 and re-deploying another 500. Restructuring cost the company about £16m.