Orascom Construction quarterly profit rises

Egyptian infrastructure and engineering group Orascom Construction reported a 10.7 per cent increase in its third-quarter net profit due to higher revenue.

Net profit for the three months to the end of September rose to $32.2 million (Dh118.2m), the company said on Thursday. Revenue for the reporting period jumped 8.3 per cent to $789.6 million from a year earlier.

“Our operations in the Middle East and Africa have been delivering consistent, healthy revenue and margins,” said Osama Bishai, Orascom’s chief executive. “In the US, we are pleased with the progress of our turnaround efforts and successful business development activities.

“We generated positive operating cash flow ... and have maintained our overall net cash position despite a challenging first quarter.”

Orascom Construction is a global engineering and construction contractor primarily focused on infrastructure, industrial and high-end commercial projects in the Middle East, Africa and the US.

The group signed about $1.8 billion of new awards in the Middle East during the first nine months of the year, of which $965m were added in the third quarter. The company reported a 25.2 per cent increase in consolidated backlog to $5.2bn, while pro forma backlog surged 26.2 per cent year-onyear to $7.7bn.

In Egypt, the group signed a new contract in a consortium with Bombardier and Arab Contractors to design, build and operate two monorail systems for $4.5bn, it said.

In addition, an Orascom joint venture will execute all 160km of track work for the new electric light rail transit project in Egypt.

“With the addition of these two projects, OC further reinforces itself as a major player in all traditional and new segments in the transport sector including Cairo

An Orascom joint venture will execute all 160km of track work for Egypt’s new electric light rail project

Metro, airports, roads and tunnels,” the company said.

During the nine-month period, the company reported a profit of $93.7m compared to $111.6m a year earlier. Revenue fell to $2.28bn.

The group maintained its net cash position at $63.4m as of September 30, 2019, compared to a net cash position of $27.2m as of December 31, 2018.

US subsidiaries continued the positive new awards momentum gathered in the first half of the year with new contracts totalling $380m signed during the third quarter, it said.