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| Strabag SE improves earnings after six months Austria's Strabag SE disclosed its figures for the first half of 2014. The company contained the typical seasonal loss, increased revenues a bit and confirms the outlook on the full-year. "As expected, the favourable weather conditions at the beginning of the year resulted in several orders being moved up into the first quarter. These would otherwise have been carried out over the course of the year. In our home market of Germany, we still have a 10 % plus in output volume after the first six months. At the same time, however, several markets fell back slightly, leaving growth of 2 % for the group as a whole. For the full year, my management board colleagues and I had predicted an output volume of € 13.6 billion – unchanged versus 2013. We feel that the development to date confirms this prognosis", comments Thomas Birtel, CEO of Strabag SE. Output volume and revenue The Strabag SE Group registered an output volume of € 5,779.55 million in the first half of 2014. This corresponds to an increase by 2 % versus the same period of the previous year. The consolidated group revenue, like the output volume, also grew upward with a plus of 5 %. The second quarter revenue remained more or less stable with +1 %. Order backlog The order backlog grew by 10 % from € 14,046.50 million at the end of June 2013 to € 15,468.48 million on 30 June 2014. This development was driven particularly by the large projects that had been acquired last year in Germany, Chile, Slovakia and Hungary, on the one hand, as well as by new contracts acquired in Denmark and Austria during the ongoing business year. Financial performance The limited capacity for construction in winter results in significant seasonal effects on the development of earnings and other financial figures of Strabag SE. The first two quarters of the year typically have a negative effect on results, which is then overcompensated by results in the second half of the year. As a result of the seasonal effects, a quarterly comparison makes little sense. The earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the first half of 2014 improved by 17 % to € 80.43 million. The depreciation and amortisation was at about last year's level. The earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), at € -107.98 million, were 12 % less deeply in negative terrain. The net interest income fell slightly, reaching € -13.00 million after € -8.88 million in the first half of the previous year. Below the line, this resulted in an 8 % improvement of the earnings before tax (EBT) in the amount of € -120.98 million. Accordingly, the income tax was again in positive territory with € 22.09 million and thus provided some relief despite being 16 % lower on the year. The remaining net income was up 6 %. The thirdparty shareholders helped bear a loss of € 5.77 million for a net income after minorities of € -93.12 million (+9 %). The earnings per share reached € -0.91 after € -0.99 in the first half of the year before. Strabag SE generated an EBITDA of € 150.34 million in the second quarter, a plus of 3 %. The EBIT grew by 13 % to € 55.75 million. Financial position and cash flows The balance sheet total, at € 10,304.52 million, changed little versus 31 December 2013. Seasonal factors resulted in an increase of the trade receivables to the detriment of cash and cash equivalents. The equity ratio, with 30.2 % after 30.7 % at the end of 2013, remained at the usual high level. The net cash position, as is typical for the season, turned from net cash in the amount of € 73.73 million at year's end into net debt of € 281.73 million. A comparison with the net debt at the end of June 2013 shows a decrease by 54 %. The cash flow from earnings more than doubled over the comparison period to € 46.81 million. The cash flow from operating activities and the cash flow from investing activities, at € -181.18 million and € -137.18 million, were 18 % and 11 % less negative, respectively. The cash flow from financing activities, meanwhile, moved from positive into negative terrain due to a € 125 million bond emission last year, something which Strabag opted against this year. Employees The number of employees fell by just 1 % to 71,215 in comparison to the same period of the previous year. Large changes in several entities nearly balanced each other out: The workforce was scaled back for market reasons in Poland and for project-related reasons in Russia and Romania, while new large projects in Germany, in Denmark and in Hungary led to increases in staff levels. Outlook The management board of Strabag SE continues to expect the output volume for the 2014 financial year to remain more or less unchanged versus 2013 at € 13.6 billion. It forecasts an EBIT of at least € 260 million for the current financial year, which more or less corresponds to the value of 2013. Although the realisation of the measures proposed by the internal Strabag 2013ff task force is beginning to show first successes, Strabag faces a challenging environment in 2014 with high price pressure in the European infrastructure construction sector. On the other hand, the company is registering continued solid conditions in building construction for the private sector, especially in Germany. write your comments about the article :: © 2014 Construction News :: home page |