Vienna, 12 February 2020--- The publicly listed European-based technology group for construction services STRABAG SE today announced its first figures for the 2019 financial year and issued an outlook for 2020. “As in previous years, we can look back on a record year. In view of our high order backlog and based on the planning of our operating entities, we continue to see constant demand in the European construction sector for the current financial year. In our view there can be no talk of a general economic slowdown or even a decline,” sums up Thomas Birtel, CEO of STRABAG SE.
Output volume
The STRABAG SE Group generated a record output volume for the third year in a row in the 2019 financial year. With a plus of 2 % to € 16.6 billion, the company exceeded its own forecast. Business was characterised in particular by growth in the home market of Austria and in transportation infrastructures in Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic, as well as by an expected decline from the loss of a key German client in property and facility services. Performance in the remaining markets was mixed.
Order backlog
The order backlog as at 31 December 2019 grew by 3 % year-on-year to € 17.4 billion, reaching a record level for the fourth time. Declines were seen in Hungary, Austria and Poland, for example, as work progressed on numerous major projects in these countries. This development was contrasted by the substantial expansion of an existing order in the United Kingdom and a significant increase in the order backlog in Germany and the Czech Republic. The projects acquired in 2019 include the construction of a section of the D35 motorway and the modernisation of several railway lines in the Czech Republic, the upgrading of bridges on the A9 motorway near Allersberg in Germany, two mining contracts for the El Teniente mine in Chile, the transportation infrastructure and civil engineering works for the Boll-Sinneringen bypass in Switzerland, the rehabilitation of the southern section of Budapest’s M3 metro line in Hungary, as well as the construction of a wastewater pumping station in Qatar, a pumped storage power plant in Dubai and a pumping station for a wastewater treatment plant in Toronto, Canada.
Employees
In line with the increased output in the group’s core markets, the average number of employees also grew by 2 %, or about 1,500 persons, to 76,919. In Europe, staff was added especially in Poland and Austria, while the other markets exhibited inconsistent trends. The project-related increase in the Americas region and the decline in the Middle East nearly offset each other.
STRABAG SE expects to be able to maintain an output of over € 16 billion in the 2020 financial year. This assumption is well-supported by the high order backlog. From today’s perspective, no significant changes in the output volume should be observed in any of the three segments North + West, South + East and International + Special Divisions.
On the earnings side, STRABAG SE expects to exceed the previous target of an operating EBIT margin of at least 3.3 % in the 2019 financial year. The planned EBIT margin of more than 3.5 % for the 2020 financial year represents a step toward the medium-term target of 4.0 %. Net investments (cash flow from investing activities) in 2020 should not exceed € 500 million.
The planning for 2020 is based, among other things, on the expectation that the earnings contributions from the traditionally strong specialty business fields of real estate development and property and facility services will weaken somewhat, but at the same time further progress can be made in project risk management and that the strong demand in the construction sector in markets such as Poland or Germany will be reflected in fair building prices in the construction sector.
Additional figures and details about the 2019 financial year will be available from 7:30 a.m. (CEST) on 29 April 2020 at www.strabag.com.
STRABAG SE is a European-based technology group for construction services, a leader in innovation and financial strength. Our services span all areas of the construction industry and cover the entire construction value chain. We create added value for our clients by our specialised entities integrating the most diverse services and assuming responsibility for them. We bring together people, materials and machinery at the right place and at the right time in order to realise even complex construction projects – on schedule, of the highest quality and at the best price. The hard work and dedication of our more than 75,000 employees allow us to generate an annual output volume of around € 16 billion. At the same time, a dense network of numerous subsidiaries in many European countries and on other continents is helping to expand our area of operation far beyond the borders of Austria and Germany. More information is available at www.strabag.com
