STRABAG SE upgrades outlook for 2020 after half-year figures
31 August 2020
- Output volume 10 % lower in the first half of 2020
- EBITDA +2 %, EBIT down 26 % to € 45.10 million due to higher depreciation and amortisation
- Order backlog at record high of € 19.4 billion
- Outlook for 2020 upgraded: output volume expected to reach around € 15 billion – previous forecast € 14.4 billion; EBIT margin target remains at ≥ 3.5 %
6M/2020 |
6M/2019 |
in % |
||
---|---|---|---|---|
Output volume |
€ million |
6,720.08 |
7,506.99 |
-10% |
Revenue | € million |
6,321.81 |
6,979.07 |
-9% |
Order backlog | € million |
19,440.54 |
18,325.61 |
6% |
EBITDA | € million |
300.11 |
294.74 |
2% |
EBITDA margin | % |
4.7% |
4.2% |
|
EBIT | € million |
45.10 |
61.00 |
-26% |
EBIT margin | % |
0.7% |
0.9% |
|
Net income after minorities |
€ million |
-0.79 |
10.66 |
n.m. |
Net income after minorities margin | % |
0.0% |
0.2% |
|
Earnings per share | € |
0.01 |
0.10 |
n.m. |
Employees | FTE |
74,093 |
76,638 |
-3% |
Today, Monday, the publicly listed construction company STRABAG SE reported figures for the first half of 2020.
Output volume and revenue
STRABAG SE generated a 10 % lower output volume of € 6,720.08 million in the first half of 2020. This is largely due to three factors: the loss of a German key account in the property and facility services business resulting from an expired contract in mid-2019, the temporary halt to construction activity due to the coronavirus crisis in Austria, and the execution and completion of tunnelling projects in Chile. The consolidated group revenue fell by 9 %.
Order backlog
The order backlog as at 30 June 2020 reached a new record high of € 19,440.54 million, which corresponds to 6 % growth over the level from 30 June 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 by new large orders and contract extensions in tunnelling in the United Kingdom and a significant increase in the order backlog in Germany and the Czech Republic.
Financial performance
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased slightly by 2 % to € 300.11 million in the first half of 2020. Depreciation and amortisation grew disproportionately as a result of higher investments in the previous year, however, so that earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell by 26 % to € 45.10 million from € 61.00 million in the same period of the previous year. This decline is attributable to the development of the International + Special Divisions segment.
Net interest income stood at € -13.49 million compared to € -19.50 million in the first six months of the previous year. This figure includes higher negative exchange rate differences of € -7.05 million (6M/2019: € -1.24 million), which is more than compensated by lower interest expenses. Earnings before taxes (EBT) came in at € 31.61 million compared to € 41.50 million in the first half of 2019. The fact that income taxes reached a similarly high level at the same time is mainly due to project losses in a non-European country that cannot be offset by the possibility of asserting loss carryforwards.
The earnings attributable to minority shareholders were barely changed in absolute figures at € 1.42 million. Overall, a net income after minorities of € -0.79 million was achieved. In the same period of the previous year, it had still been in positive territory with € 10.66 million, though the net income after minorities tends to be below zero for the first half of the year. With 102,600,000 outstanding shares, this corresponds to earnings per share of € -0.01 (6M/2019: € 0.10).
Financial position and cash flows
Compared with the first half of the previous year, the equity ratio increased from 29.9 % to 31.7 %; at the end of 2019, it had amounted to 31.5 %. The net cash position decreased, as is usual for the season, from € 1,143.53 million at the end of 2019 to € 946.47 million (30 June 2019: € 240.57 million).
While the cash flow from operating activities had been clearly negative in the same period of the previous year, it now registered in positive territory at € 32.84 million due to a lower working capital increase. As there was significantly less investment in property, plant and equipment than in the previous year, the cash flow from investing activities was about 40 % less strongly in negative territory. The repayment of a bond with a higher volume than the one in the previous year led to a cash flow from financing activities of € -261.03 million, compared to € -183.27 million in the first half of 2019.
Employees
The reduced output is also reflected in the lower number of employees, which fell by 3 % to 74,093 compared to the first half of 2019. The largest decline was recorded in Germany, which was due to the aforementioned loss of a long-term key account in property and facility services in the previous year, followed by project-related staff reductions in the Middle East. Developments in the other markets were mixed.