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| Hochtief met its profit growth targets in the first half of 2006 German construction giant Hochtief GmbH announced that its first-half 2006 operating earnings, at EUR 147.3 million, matched the figure for the prior-year period adjusted for the exceptional gain from the investment partnership (H1 2005 excluding the exceptional gain: EUR 147.3 million). A healthy improvement in net investment and interest income delivered an extra boost to profit before taxes, which at EUR 143 million was 11.5 percent up on the prior-year figure (H1 2005 minus exceptional gain: EUR 128.3 million). Consolidated net profit was also well above the adjusted prior-year figure, climbing by 25.7 percent to EUR 29.8 million (H1 2005 less the exceptional gain: EUR 23.7 million). New orders for the year to June 30, 2006 increased by 20 percent to EUR 7.91 billion (H1 2005: EUR 6.59 billion). The order backlog matched the first quarter's record level with EUR 21.53 billion—a rise of 5.6 percent despite adverse exchange rate effects diminishing the total as of June 30 by EUR 1.07 billion. In the first half of 2006, external sales showed another strong increase to EUR 7.13 billion, up 17.1 percent on the first-half 2005 figure (H1 2005: EUR 6.09 billion). Strong new orders and ongoing gains in the quality of accepted contracts confirm the group’s outlook for 2006. By Hochtief 's estimation, an order backlog of about EUR 21 billion by the end of 2006, group sales of EUR 13-14 billion. With the Hochtief 's operational earnings power further improving during 2006, profit before taxes above the previous year’s pretax profit adjusted for effects of the investment partnership. The group will progress substantially closer to its medium-term target of EUR 100 million. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Construction News :: home page |