CIG juggles debt to stay afloat

Listed infrastructure group Consolidated Infrastructure Group (CIG) continues to struggle with a debt burden, despite reaching a number of agreements with Toronto Stock Exchange-listed Fairfax that led to a capital injection.

Listed infrastructure group Consolidated Infrastructure Group (CIG) continues to struggle with a debt burden, despite reaching a number of agreements with Toronto Stock Exchange-listed Fairfax that led to a capital injection.

Current assets exceeded current liabilities by R701.3m at the end of its year to end-August, with the company still finalising agreements that would shift short-term debt into long-term debt, it said on Monday.

The company said it continued to face tough economic conditions, in which engineering, procurement and construction were under pressure, especially due to uncertainty about Eskom and spending by municipalities.

The company’s share price has lost 70.34% so far in 2019.

The group — whose portfolio straddles power, building materials, oil and gas and rail — narrowed its loss to R1.34bn, from a restated R1.67bn previously. Group revenue was flat at about R3.17bn.

During the year, it had concluded a capital-raising, resulting in R765m of net capital, and in Fairfax Africa becoming a significant shareholder.

The group, which has operations in SA, Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East, said Conco, its largest subsidiary and key driver of results, continued to experience difficult trading conditions and slower-thanexpected contract awards.

The company said budgeted profit from unsecured contracts failed to materialise, while there was an underrecovery on project overheads carried in anticipation of these contracts.