Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

PROFITS

Skanska posts big 2013 profits after US boom

Swedish construction giant Skanska posted on Friday a rising annual profit for 2013, citing a strong performance in the US and a thundering fourth quarter cash flow.

Published: 7 February 2014 14:02 CET
Skanska posts big 2013 profits after US boom
Skanska Chief Executive Johan Karlström. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT
 
Net profit grew by 32 percent in 2013 to 3.76 billion kronor ($576.9 million), while revenue rose by 5.5 percent to 136.49 billion kronor.
   
Skanska said a good performance in its "major geographical markets outweighed the weak performance in a few smaller geographical ones", citing an 18-percent revenue increase in the United States in local currency.
   
"The cash flow from operations was very strong, especially in the fourth quarter," chief executive Johan Karlström said in a statement.
   
Fourth quarter net profit was up by 24 percent from a year earlier to 920 million kronor and revenue for the period increased by seven percent to 38.4 billion kronor, exceeding the 37.4 billion kronor expected by analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.
   
In 2013, Skanska increased its workforce slightly to 55,600 people.
   
The group said that the outlook for its geographical markets and segments is "slowly improving".
   
"We expect the civil construction market in our major geographies to remain stable or develop positively in 2014," Skanska said.
   
In early afternoon trading, Skanska shares were down by 3.39 percent on the Stockholm stock exchange, while the overall market was up by 0.25 percent.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

PROFITS

Norsk hydro profits jump despite Brazil scandal

A surge in aluminium prices helped Norwegian metals and energy giant Norsk Hydro to rising profits, figures released on Wednesday showed, though an environmental scandal in Brazil threatens to dull its shiny outlook

Published: 26 April 2018 10:48 CEST
Norsk hydro profits jump despite Brazil scandal
Hydro President and CEO Svein Richard Brandtzæg visits the Alunorte alumina refinery in Barcarena, Brazil, in March 2018. Photo: Hydro
The company's net profit jumped 19 percent for the first quarter to nearly 2.1 billion Norwegian kroner ($265 million, 217 million euros), as sales surged 75 percent year-on-year to nearly 40 billion kroner.
   
Operating profits, or earnings before interest and taxes,  rose 38 percent year-on-year to 3.15 billion kroner, but shrank 11 percent from the last quarter of 2017.
   
The steep decline follows a scandal that erupted after Norsk Hydro was accused of contaminating a river in Brazil with bauxite residue. The company has said it found no evidence of such a spill, but has apologised for discharging untreated rainwater into the Para River.
   
Investors reacted coolly to the earnings report, pulling Norsk Hydro's share price down by 1.1 percent in early Wednesday trading. It later recovered some of that ground to trade down 0.3 percent in the afternoon.
   
Brazilian authorities slapped Norsk Hydro with two fines of 10 million reais (2.5 million euros, around $3 million) each and ordered the giant to halve its production at Alunorte, the world's largest aluminium plant, and also suspend the use of the river basin.
   
As a result, Norsk Hydro's earnings before interest and tax for its bauxite and alumina activity plunged 60 percent from the last quarter, to 741 million kroner.
 
As alumina is the main component of aluminium, the drop threatens to put a strain on the whole of Norsk Hydro's supply chain.
 
Norsk Hydro is currently in talks with the Brazilian authorities but it does not know when it will be allowed to operate at full capacity at the Alunorte plant again.
   
The saving grace for the Norwegian company in the first quarter was a surge in aluminium prices. 
   
The jump was then consolidated after the United States slapped Russian metals giant Rusal with sanctions earlier this month.
   
But global prices are now beginning to dip once again, after the US Treasury on Monday said it would lift its sanctions on Rusal if tycoon Oleg Deripaska gives up control of the company.
   
“The US sanctions on Rusal have caused great uncertainty in the world's aluminium markets and will impact trade flows and availability of metal and raw materials throughout the aluminium value chain,” CEO Svein Richard 
Brandtzaeg said in a statement from Hydro Norsk Wednesday.
   
“The Brazilian authorities' embargo on Alunorte adds to the uncertainty in the aluminium industry,” he added.