Vienna-based 945 Strabag reported output volume of nearly €2,257 million in the first quarter of 2016 financial year, a decline of 9%.
However, Q1 EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) improved by 13% to €-57.71 million.
The order backlog also decreased on the year, coming to rest at €13,976.62 million on 31 March 2016 – an 8% decline versus the first quarter of 2015.
The number of employees fell by 3% to 68,808. This reduction took place almost entirely among blue-collar staff, especially in the human-resource-intensive regions of the Middle East and Africa. In Poland, employee levels were up thanks to the positive order backlog, while staff numbers remained more or less unchanged in the home markets of Germany and Austria.
“Following an especially mild winter last year, which resulted in an unusually high output volume 31 March 2015, the first quarter of this year saw a weather-related decline in output in comparison. As always, the construction industry cannot see this as an indication for the full year.
“We currently expect to generate a more or less unchanged output volume over the course of this financial year,” said Thomas Birtel, chief executive of Strabag.
“While Germany has announced a considerable increase of its infrastructure investments, the lack of procurement and planning capacities means that we still cannot expect any significant growth in 2016. On the earnings side, we see ourselves confirmed in our plans to reach an EBIT margin of 3% on revenue by the end of the year,”
Output volume for the 2016 financial year is expected to remain unchanged while organic growth at about the level of inflation is expected for the years to come. The margin is expected to remain at about 3 % in 2016, “as the efforts to further improve the risk management and to lower costs have already had a positive impact”.
However, Q1 EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) improved by 13% to €-57.71 million.
The order backlog also decreased on the year, coming to rest at €13,976.62 million on 31 March 2016 – an 8% decline versus the first quarter of 2015.
The number of employees fell by 3% to 68,808. This reduction took place almost entirely among blue-collar staff, especially in the human-resource-intensive regions of the Middle East and Africa. In Poland, employee levels were up thanks to the positive order backlog, while staff numbers remained more or less unchanged in the home markets of Germany and Austria.
“Following an especially mild winter last year, which resulted in an unusually high output volume 31 March 2015, the first quarter of this year saw a weather-related decline in output in comparison. As always, the construction industry cannot see this as an indication for the full year.
“We currently expect to generate a more or less unchanged output volume over the course of this financial year,” said Thomas Birtel, chief executive of Strabag.
“While Germany has announced a considerable increase of its infrastructure investments, the lack of procurement and planning capacities means that we still cannot expect any significant growth in 2016. On the earnings side, we see ourselves confirmed in our plans to reach an EBIT margin of 3% on revenue by the end of the year,”
Output volume for the 2016 financial year is expected to remain unchanged while organic growth at about the level of inflation is expected for the years to come. The margin is expected to remain at about 3 % in 2016, “as the efforts to further improve the risk management and to lower costs have already had a positive impact”.
