Egypt’s Orascom Construction confident of meeting profitability targets

Above, the Iowa Fertilizer Company project being undertaken by Orascom Construction’s subsidiary BESIX. (Courtesy BESIX)

DUBAI: Osama Bishai, the chief executive of Orascom Construction, on Thursday expressed confidence the company’s “current backlog will continue to fully support profitability targets” as it reported higher profit for the first half of the year.
Profit attributable to shareholders rose 4.65 percent to $51.7 million as of June compared with $49.4 million from a year ago. Six-month revenues also rose to $2.01 billion versus $1.99 billion last year.
Orascom Construction also reported a net cash position of $202.1 million and a backlog of $4.7 billion as of June, and $6.6 billion including its 50 percent share in BESIX.
The company said over 62 percent of this is work due to be carried out in Egypt, about 27 percent in US and just under 5 percent in Saudi Arabia.
The current backlog provides sufficient revenue and profitability visibility as the group pursues a robust bidding pipeline BESIX continues to deliver consistent results and resumes annual dividend distribution, Orascom Construction said in its report.
“Our focus on quality over size continues to translate into improved profitability while allowing us to pursue new attractive opportunities,” Bishai said in a statement accompanying the financial report.
“We are pleased with the strength of our current bidding pipeline
and committed work in both MENA and USA, and expect to start converting
these opportunities into backlog during the second half of the year.”
In the MENA region, Orascom Construction reported a total of $500 million of new awards during the first half including the $100 million contract to build a 650-megawatt power plant in Egypt.
In addition to bidding on new projects in Algeria and the UAE, the company was also actively pursuing opportunities in new countries, it added.