ZÜBLIN with stable financial year in challenging market environment

• Order backlog at new record level
• Serial and systematised construction and building in existing structures (reconstruction, conversion, refurbishment) key drivers for greater sustainability in 2024

ZÜBLIN, Germany’s market leader in building construction and civil engineering, was again able to improve its output volume, order backlog and order intake in the 2023 financial year. The higher performance figures are an indication of the company’s resilience during challenging times for the construction industry.
 
ZÜBLIN grew its construction output by € 179 million (+3.9%) to around € 4.7 billion and set a new record for its order backlog, which increased by 15.9% from around € 7.8 billion to approximately € 9 billion. Year-on-year, incoming orders climbed from around € 4.7 billion to around € 6 billion.
A total of 15,112 employees worked at ZÜBLIN as at 31 December 2023, with around 9,000 in Germany and some 6,000 abroad.
 
ZÜBLIN has been able to compensate for the crisis in residential construction with large-scale projects in infrastructure and industrial construction. The largest new projects in 2023 include the new construction of the Inspire Neukölln office property in Berlin, a replacement building at Ruhr University in Bochum and the construction of a 4.1 km metro line in Hamburg. Particularly noteworthy abroad is the contract extension for the El Teniente copper mine in Chile.
 
Utilising new potential in building construction
 
ZÜBLIN is focusing on serial and systematised construction, among other methods, as a way to advance its building construction activities. The MOLENO® construction concept combines fast and sustainable construction with moderate costs. The extensive use of prefabricated timber elements also makes this form of construction significantly more sustainable. With MOLENO® WOHNEN, ZÜBLIN is already a framework agreement partner in the Serial Housing Construction 2.0 programme sponsored by the German housing industry association GdW.
 
Another focus of the building construction and civil engineering specialist ZÜBLIN is on building in existing structures, a field that includes the activities of reconstruction, conversion and refurbishment. Because of the so-called grey energy that is already embodied within a building, using the existing building fabric as the basis for a project significantly reduces the carbon emissions released during construction in contrast to those that would be generated during construction of a completely new building. At the same time, building in existing structures reuses many of the old components and materials, which minimises the impact of construction activities on the surrounding area. This makes building in existing structures an important step on the way to a carbon-neutral future – and a key component of ZÜBLIN’s strategic orientation.
 
A good start to the new financial year
 
Despite the difficult market environment, ZÜBLIN expects to see stable business development in the ongoing financial year. “We are continuing to focus on digitalisation, innovation and sustainability with the aim of saving resources and becoming climate-neutral in our design and build activities. In 2024, we will intensify our efforts in the field of building in existing structures and systematised construction with our MOLENO® hybrid timber system,” says Stephan von der Heyde, member of the ZÜBLIN management board.
 
ZÜBLIN started the 2024 financial year on a positive note. The company secured several large orders in the first quarter, including the construction of a new lock at Erlangen-Kriegenbrunn with an order value of € 450 million. ZÜBLIN also acquired an order for a residential construction project with the MOLENO® timber hybrid construction system in Kernen. The residential building is part of the International Building Exhibition (IBA) Stadtregion Stuttgart 2027.