Salini Impregilo becomes Webuild

Following a shareholders’ meeting, Salini Impregilo, one of the leading contractors on the new Genoa bridge project, has announced it will change its name to Webuild.

The company said it is now in a position to “contribute to the revival of the Italian economy within the context of an infrastructure investment plan capable of creating thousands of jobs”.

A statement from the company said the new name also points to the group’s evolution as a global contractor, while retaining a strong base in Italy.

Webuild will continue to be a driving force of Progetto Italia, or Project Italy, part of a broad industrial plan announced last year as Salini merged with Italian infrastructure specialist Astaldi.

The plan is aimed at strengthening the national sector of public works and construction in Italy, which represents 8% of the country’s GDP. Project Italy will have a combined order backlog of €42.5 billion.

The Webuild group will have 70,000 direct and indirect employees globally.

Along with details of the new name and direction, the company released the annual financial results for Salini Impregilo, reporting a profit in 2019 of €70.96 million.

On the strength of Salini’s performance, the board has approved the payment of a €0.03 dividend per ordinary share and €0.26 per savings share.

In a statement, the company also reported the appointment of five directors and announced a new performance share plan for 2020-2022, with long-term mechanisms for premiums, based on the achievements of the Project Italy group.