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| Hochtief still successfully on track after third quarter  Hochtief, the third largest construction services provider and the most international construction company in the world, has performed successfully in the first nine months of fiscal 2006 and set new records for new orders, work done and the order backlog. Group new orders for the nine months to September 30 totaled EUR 13.73 billion, up 35.3 percent on the prior-year period. Normalized for the exceptional gain from the airport investment partnership, consolidated net profit increased by 38 percent to EUR 46.6 million.The increase in new orders is mostly due to the strength of the markets in the Americas and the Asia-Pacific region. The HOCHTIEF companies operating there each increased new orders by some 50 percent. The total for work done also rose once again in the third quarter to EUR 12.08 billion, an increase of 14.2 percent compared with the first nine months of 2005. The order backlog also swelled further to mark a new high for the group at EUR 23.19 billion, representing growth of 16.4 percent. HOCHTIEF’s strong growth is tracked by a steep increase in revenue. At EUR 11.4 billion, external sales were up 17.4 percent on the EUR 9.7 billion reported in the prior-year period. Group operating earnings (EBITA), at EUR 210.6 million, were only slightly down from the EUR 215 million prior-year figure normalized for the exceptional gain from the airport investment partnership. Together with an improvement in net investment and interest income, this produced a marked rise in profit before taxes, which at EUR 208.1 million was above the figure for the prior-year period including the gain from the investment partnership. Excluding this gain, the first three quarter figure for 2005 of EUR 185.4 million was bettered by a significant 12.2 percent. An even stronger improvement was achieved in consolidated net profit, which at EUR 46.6 million exceeded the EUR 33.7 million normalized figure for the prior-year period by 38.2 percent. Hochtief’s capital expenditure in the first nine months came to EUR 710.3 million, almost EUR 300 million more than in the prior-year period. The largest share of this was accounted for by the Asia Pacific division. Hochtief now forecasts: New orders over EUR 17 billion. An order backlog in excess of EUR 22 billion. Group sales over EUR 14 billion. This means the group will surpass the levels reached in 2005. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Construction News :: home page |