Acquisitions drive Strabag growth

Strabag's revenues for the first half of the year were € 5,35 billion, a +12% increase on the same period last year. Although its earnings before tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITA) grew +25% to € 163 million, it made a net loss of € 21,8 million, down -22% from the net loss of € -17,8 million for the same period last year.

Strabag said its growth in revenues was due to the various acquisitions it made last year in Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland and Romania. As well as boosting the top line, they helped improve its EBITA margin from 2,7% for the first half of 2008 to 3,0% this year. These acquisitions also saw the company's headcount swell from 66042 employees at the end of June last year, to 75040 this year.

The company's order backlog stood at € 14,3 billion at the end of June, a +8% increase on the end of last year, and a +5% rise on the figure for the end of June 2008. Strabag said the rise was due largely to new road building orders in Poland. The most significant of these is the € 1,6 billion contract for a 106 km section of the A2.

However, the growth in revenues and EBITA did not help the group's bottom line profits, with depreciation and amortisation charges, along with a collapse in interest earned by the company taking it to a net loss.

Despite this loss, the company remained upbeat about its prospects for the full year. CEO Hans Peter Haselsteiner said, "at the six-month mark the management continues to hold the same view it did three months ago. Thanks to the economic stimulus programmes instituted by national governments, we will probably conclude the year at about last year's levels."