STRABAG SE Trading Statement Q1 2020: decline in output volume, very high order backlog, outlook confirmed
28 May 2020
- Output volume 3M/2020 down by 9 %
- Order backlog remains at very high level with € 17.7 billion
- 2020 outlook confirmed: output volume at € 14.4 billion, EBIT margin expected to reach at least 3.5 %
| STRABAG SE | 3M/2020 |
3M/2019 |
in % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Output volume |
2,802.98 |
3,080.87 |
-9% |
| Order backlog | 17,701.94 |
17,935.41 |
-1% |
| Employees | 73,502 |
74,065 |
-1% |
| North + West | 3M/2020 |
3M/2019 |
in % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Output volume |
1,434.50 |
1,467.88 |
-2% |
| Order backlog | 9,050.28 |
9,041.83 |
0% |
| Employees | 25,149 |
24,310 |
3% |
| South + East | 3M/2020 |
3M/2019 |
in % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Output volume |
688.04 |
747.72 |
-8% |
| Order backlog | 4,734.59 |
4,802.17 |
-1% |
| Employees | 18,672 |
17,592 |
6% |
| International + Special Divisions | 3M/2020 |
3M/2019 |
in % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Output volume |
651.98 |
836.41 |
-22% |
| Order backlog | 3,912.79 |
4,088.01 |
-4% |
| Employees | 23,006 |
25,726 |
-11% |
| Other | 3M/2020 |
3M/2019 |
in % |
|---|---|---|---|
| Output volume |
28.46 |
28.86 |
-1% |
| Order backlog | 4.28 |
3.40 |
26% |
| Employees | 6,675 |
6,437 |
4% |
STRABAG SE, the publicly listed European-based technology group for construction services, today announced its figures for the first quarter 2020. “The first three months of the current financial year show the expected decline in output and a very high order backlog. We are therefore staying with the outlook for 2020,” says Thomas Birtel, CEO of STRABAG SE.
Output volume
In the first quarter of 2020, the output of the STRABAG SE Group decreased by 9 % to € 2.8 billion. This is largely due to three factors: the loss of a key German account in Property & Facility Services resulting from an expired contract in mid-2019, the temporary halt to construction activity due to the coronavirus crisis in Austria, and the performance and completion of tunnelling projects in Chile.
Order backlog
The order backlog remains at a very high level of € 17.7 billion (-1 % compared to 31 March 2019). Work progressed on large orders in the Americas, Hungary and Austria, among other places, resulting in a decline of this figure. This development was contrasted – as was the case at the end of 2019 – by the substantial expansion of an existing tunnelling order in the United Kingdom and a significant increase in the order backlog in Germany and the Czech Republic. The projects acquired in the first quarter of 2020 include the modernisation of a bypass in the Hungarian city of Veszprém and a road widening project in Uganda.
Employees
The reduced output is also reflected in the lower number of employees – though this figure fell only slightly by 1 % to 73,502. The largest decline was recorded in Germany, while staff was added in almost all Central and Eastern European markets.
Outlook
The Management Board confirms its outlook for the 2020 financial year as updated in April 2020 and anticipates a decrease in the output volume to approx. € 14.4 billion. At the same time, it should still be possible to attain an EBIT margin of at least 3.5 %. Net investment (cash flow from investing activities) is not likely to exceed € 500 million.
