NCC still confident

NCC has reported a first quarter operating loss of SEK161 million (€17.2 million), which is slightly better than the company’s SEK162 million (€17.3 million) loss recorded for the same period last year.

Net revenues for the Swedish construction company were up to SEK11.2 billion (€1.2 billion) for the quarter, compared with SEK9.8 billion (€1.05 billion) for the same period last year.

The company said there were positive construction trends across Scandinavia, with all countries except Finland reporting improved first quarter results. Net construction revenue for the first quarter increased to SEK9.0 billion (€964 million), compared with SEK7.8 million (€835 million) for the same period last year.

The company’s order book for the first period of 2015 also improved, standing at SEK56.1 million (€6 billion), compared with SEK50.8 billion (€5.4 billion) for the same period in 2014.

In Sweden, NCC said the construction market was satisfactory in all segments. There has also been infrastructure investment in Norway, which contributed to an expanding civil engineering market. In Denmark, the main growth was in Copenhagen and Aarhus, in residential and other building segments for both newbuild and refurbishment. In Finland, the company said the market was expected to remain weak in 2015.

CEO Peter Wågström said, “I stated in the year-end report that NCC has a solid starting point ahead of 2015. Nothing has happened in the first quarter to make me change my mind.

“The result after financial items for the first quarter was slightly weaker and amounted to a loss of SEK254 million (€27.2 million).” This compared to SEK239 (€25.6 million) in the same period last year.

Wågström said this year’s first quarter loss was “mainly due to a weaker financial net and negative effects from the recalculation of the pension debt. Operating results improved for four of the seven business areas.”

He said high orders received in 2014 were now having an impact on sales and earnings in construction operations.

“Sales rose 15% and earnings by 48% year-on-year. The operating margin also improved, primarily due to higher margins in Sweden and Norway. The market remained difficult in Finland, which was reflected in a lower operating margin for the Finnish operation.”