Kvaerner Construction has today announced its first quarter results which reveal an excellent order book showing a steady increase over the same period last year.
Profit of £3.8 million is fully in line with Construction’s business plan and continues the improving trend and underlying strength of its main contracting activities and specialist businesses. These profits show a margin of nearly 1.3% on sales, despite the delayed start of a number of recently awarded major schemes in the Far East.
New orders have been awarded throughout the UK during this first quarter. Major schemes include an office development in Chiswell Street, London for Helical Bar; the new headquarters of the Portman Building Society in Bournemouth and retail and commercial developments in Chesterfield, Staines and Scotland.
Associate company Gammon Construction, continues to work on Hong Kong’s infrastructure having been awarded a number of contracts to construct new roads and £80m worth of work on the Mass Transit Railways scheme.
Keith Clarke, Kvaerner Construction’s chief executive said "I am confident that this performance and our strong order book will provide a good return in 1999. Emphasis is now on continually improving our performance. We strongly support the Egan initiative - four of our schemes are demonstration projects for the Movement for Innovation and we have seconded staff to the improvement team."
During this quarter Construction completed work on the PFI prison at Kilmarnock, Scotland. Finished in a record 16 and-a-half months it beat the previous benchmark established on its first PFI prison at Lowdham Grange, Nottingham.
The A1/M1 was handed over five-months early during this period, while the first stage of the Queen Elizabeth PFI Hospital in Woolwich was topped out last month by the Minister for Construction & London, Nick Raynsford, only nine months after construction started.
· Turnover £298 million
· Operating profit: (£0.5 million)
· Profit before tax and goodwill: £3.8 million
· Order book : £1.52 billion
(all figures include Kvaerner’s share of associates and have been represented to exclude steel fabrication and water process plants, which are no longer part of Kvaerner Construction)
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For further information contact:Kris Birkett, Press Officer – 01923 423 833Tanya Barnes, PR Officer - 01923 423 905