Dr.-Ing. Herbert Lütkestratkötter, Chairman of the Executive Board
HOCHTIEF had a successful start to 2010. Our order books are doing well, with the Group’s order backlog reaching a new high of EUR 36.74 billion. Profit before taxes also performed strongly and was 2.5 percent up on the prioryear figure despite the long winter.
Our sustained growth shows that the Group is fit for the future. With our strategy of delivering integrated services spanning the life cycle of infrastructure projects, real estate and facilities, and further expanding our presence on international growth markets, we act in the interests of our customers and shareholders. Just a few weeks ago, HOCHTIEF was named winner at the Best of European Business 2010 awards in the “Growth despite crisis” category for large companies—a distinction with which we are delighted as it once again serves to underscore the effectiveness of our strategy.
New orders were sharply down on the prior-year quarter due to postponements into the second quarter. Much of the shortfall was made up by as early as April. Bundled project services by HOCHTIEF companies acting as a team are increasingly proving to be a competitive advantage in new orders. For example, HOCHTIEF Facility Management and HOCHTIEF AirPort are working together on the major Bahrain International Airport contract; HOCHTIEF Facility Management and HOCHTIEF Energy Management provide services for a number of HOCHTIEF Projektentwicklung’s properties; and our experts from HOCHTIEF Construction and HOCHTIEF Facility Management are taking care of construction and operation on many of HOCHTIEF PPP Solutions’ projects.
The international scope of our Group’s services can be clearly seen in the portfolio of new contracts, which includes mining contracts in Indonesia and Australia, publicsector building construction projects in Germany and the
USA, and infrastructure contracts in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and North America.
HOCHTIEF also brings its specialized planning know-how to the international arena—for instance, in one of the world’s largest urban development projects: The Group subsidiary HOCHTIEF ViCon will coordinate the use of 3D simulation technologies in the development of Lusail City in Qatar. The owner and client is the state real estate investor and urban developer Qatari Diar. The contract, which initially runs until 2011, is a major success for the relatively young HOCHTIEF subsidiary. HOCHTIEF Construction Management Middle East also had a successful first quarter: Our experts are in charge of constructing a new reception building for state visitors at Abu Dhabi International Airport by the end of the year.
Group outlook
The Group still expects new orders and the order backlog to fall slightly below prior-year levels in the fiscal year, sales to remain more or less on a par with 2009, and profit before taxes and consolidated net profit to each increase slightly on the prior year—not least because of the very high order backlog and the opportunities available. The Group’s medium-term aim remains a pretax profit of EUR 1 billion.
It should be noted that only a slow recovery is expected in the global economy in 2010 and exchange rate movements can influence our profit forecasts. Our planning continues to be based on the assumption that the financial and capital markets will normalize again in the current year, there will not be a sustained recessive setback in the world economy, and the situation in areas of political tension will not lastingly deteriorate any further.
HOCHTIEF is continuously evolving as a Group. We make full use of our broadly based international lineup to this end. Thus we can look to the future with optimism.
Dr.-Ing. Herbert Lütkestratkötter