* Construction, support services order book of 4.2 bln stg
* Full-year profit 58.4 mln stg, towards top of forecasts
* Says growth in power, waste can offset spending cuts
* Raises dividend 5.5 percent
* Shares up 3 percent
(Adds quotes, reaction)
By Kate Holton
LONDON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - British construction firm Kier said it entered the financial year with confidence and healthy order books for projects such as power and waste which would see it through the looming public-sector spending cuts.
The group, which maintains social housing and builds schools, prisons, power stations and homes, said it had worked hard to move into markets that were growing such as power, utilities and waste.
It said its excellent client relationships and ability to attract construction work from both the public and private sectors meant it expects to outperform its rivals.
The construction and support services sector was hit hard by the financial crisis and more cuts in contracts loom when the full extent of the British government's belt-tightening budget becomes clear in October.
"We have access to a huge number of local authority and national frameworks, more than anybody else in the industry, and we have a good geographic spread and our people can build almost anything from hospitals, to prisons, to schools and highways," Chief Executive Paul Sheffield told Reuters.
"So we have access to a much bigger market place than many others."
Shares in the group were up 3 percent at 11.03 pounds.
Liberum Capital analyst Joe Brent said the results were solid but cautioned that it was too early to see the impact of recent government spending cuts.
Kier has 98 percent of forecast revenue for the construction division secure for the 2011 year, giving it confidence it can sustain healthy operating margins and strong cash flows. It raised its dividend by 5.5 percent.
The firm said it had a strong order book for its construction and support services units at 4.2 billion pounds ($6.5 billion).
Sheffield said the public spending cuts would provide opportunities for its support services division in the provision of outsourcing, but pain elsewhere.
"It is going to have an impact on our construction business but there are many other non-government areas of growth, and we're seeing big growth in power, waste and environmental work and we think it will counterbalance the drop off in the public spend," Sheffield said.
It posted full-year pretax profit of of 58.4 million pounds and revenue of 2.1 billion pounds. Analysts had been expecting pretax profit of 55.5 million pounds and revenues of 2.1 billion pounds, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Sheffield said he expected revenues to be flat in 2011 and forecasts for pretax profit to edge higher after Thursday's results. (Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Julie Crust and Michael Shields) ($1=.6443 Pound)