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| Hochtief returns to profit in 2q despite provisions German builder Hochtief generated profit before taxes of EUR 166.1 million in the second quarter of 2012 after incurring a loss in the first three months of the year. The Hochtief Asia Pacific division returned to the black. The troubled Airport Link project, a toll road in Brisbane, was opened to traffic and handed over. The desalination plant in Victoria reached the all-important "first water" milestone. First-half new orders grew by 25.3 percent year on year and work done by almost 20 percent. The Hochtief Europe division and US infrastructure subsidiary Flatiron were plagued by the market environment, however: Both operated at lower capacity. In Germany, provisions had to be recognized in the accounts for a longer construction period on the Elbe Philharmonic Hall project. The Group is to claim reimbursement of these costs. "This nonrecurring item is the reason why we do not yet have a consolidated net profit in the Group at the half-year point, " says Dr. Frank Stieler, Chairman of the Hochtief Executive Board. "We expect the already-transacted sale of shares in the company responsible for the operation of the Vespucio Norte Express toll highway in Santiago de Chile to be able to largely offset the negative impacts at the Elbe Philharmonic Hall." This transaction, including obtaining the outstanding approvals, is due to close by the end of this year. Hochtief confirms its guidance for the order backlog and sales for fiscal year 2012. Both key figures will normalize below the 2011 record. New orders are now expected to be on a par with the previous year's high level, however. The Group continues to anticipate a pretax profit from operating activities of just under EUR 550 million and consolidated net profit of just under EUR 180 million. After the provisions recognized in Europe in the first half of the year, though, it will be much more difficult for Hochtief to achieve these targets. write your comments about the article :: © 2012 Construction News :: home page |