Dubai-based Arabtec Holding, a leading construction contractor, reported a major turnaround announcing a net profit attributable to owners of Dh57 million ($15.52 million) in the first half of this year, compared to a net loss of Dh233 million ($63.44 million) in the same period last year.

 

Revenue increased to Dh4.25 billion ($1.157 billion) compared to Dh4.16 billion ($1.132 billion) in H1 2016, up two per cent year-on-year. Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) was Dh61 million ($16.61 million) compared with a loss of Dh171 million ($46.56 million), a 232 per cent rise.

 

Net profit was Dh42 million ($11.43 million) in H1 2017, compared with a loss of Dh243 million ($66.16 million) in the same period in 2016.

 

The net profit attributable to owners for the second quarter of 2017 was Dh39.8 million ($10.84 million), marking a jump from the Dh186.4 million ($50.75 million) in losses recorded in the same period in 2016.

 

Arabtec had an order backlog of Dh17.4 billion ($4.74 billion) in H1 2017 compared with Dh22.6 billion ($6.15 billion) in H1 2016, with a strong pipeline of tender opportunities going forward, it said.

 

The company's major new wins included wasl Tower (Dh1.46 billion), the UAE Pavilion (Dh353 million) and Dubai Creek Harbour Development (Dh113 million).

 

The key deliverable in H1 2017 was the completion of the recapitalisation programme in June which 

stabilised the business, enabling the group to look to the future and ensure it can begin capitalising on

opportunities, it said. 

 

"Arabtec has made good progress implementing robust risk management, refocusing on core competencies and key geographies, creating clear accountability, managing and tracking performance and streamlining business processes which will continue to improve productivity," it said.

 

Group chief executive officer Hamish Tyrwhitt said: “We continue to align our business with our

strategic roadmap which has been reflected in the performance of the group. The recapitalisation

programme was the key deliverable for us in Phase One of our strategic roadmap, which we successfully concluded in June, leaving us to focus on risk management and business transformation. We will also remain on track to optimise the delivery of our Dh17.4 billion ($4.74 billion) backlog and continue to work on turning risks into opportunities through the resolution of legacy claims and collecting receivables.”

 

“We are now concentrating on aligning the synergies of our operating entities to become more

productive and cost effective and have begun positioning the business to deliver Phase Two of our

strategic roadmap. We continue to look to improvements in the future that will contribute to the

successful and sustainable future for all our stakeholders,” Tyrwhitt said. - TradeArabia News Service