Julius Berger hopeful of sustainable growth on key reforms
FOLLOWING improved performance in its financial position, amid restructuring, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, on Tuesday, expressed optimism that the firm is well positioned to increase shareholders’ value on a sustainable basis.
Besides, the firm has commenced construction work on some of its ongoing projects, which in turn, would put it on a consistent growth trajectory.
As part of measures to consolidate its enhanced performance, the firm said it plans to approach the stock market to raise additional fresh fund to boost its working capital in the near future.
Speaking at Julius Berger’s investors’ forum in Lagos, the Managing Director, Wolfgang Goetsch, said the proactive readjustment of strategy introduced recently has progressively transformed it into a leaner, more flexible, competitive, and profitable corporation.
He listed some of thes on-going projects to include: the Dangote Jetty in Apapa Lagos, the Port Harcourt Town Roads Rehabilitation, the central area of Abuja, including the B6/B12 Boulevard road system. Otheras are new awards such as the Famfa Tower, a remarkable highstandard high-rise build- ing project in Lagos, the strategic Bodo-bonny Road, the contract award for phase 2 of the Okpai Power Plant and a host of many others,
For the Abuja-kadunaKano Road project, Goetsch explained that the firm has introduced an innovative methodology, whereby the milled pavement is recycled and improved for reuse, through a precisely metered process to produce a homogenous mix of bitumen-stabilised material used for paving the base layer of the road.
Same technology will deployed for the AbujaKaduna-zaria-kano Road, shorter construction times are achieved, and resources are conserved with cost efficiencies realised at the end of the work.
He said the construction sector is faced with myriad of challenges, especially in the areas of consistency in the ease of doing business in both private and public sectors, but added that Nigeria’s economy continues to ‘gain steam’ and reflect a positive progression amid daunting challenges.
“GDP is on the rise, inflation is lower, the price per barrel of crude oil is above the $45 budgetary benchmark and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s external reserves are recovering”.