Overseas revenue boosts profits for China Communications

China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) announced stronger than expected full-year results (to December 2015) at a recent press conference.

The world’s fourth-largest contractor – with 112,000 employees in 130 countries – saw turnover rise 10% to 404 billion yuan (US$ 63 billion), compared with the previous year.

The company’s profits increased 13% to 16 billion yuan (US$ 2.5 billion), during the same period.

CCCC’s chief financial officer, Fu Junyuan, said the company’s focus on overseas projects had been a major factor in its success, with revenues from work undertaken outside of China leaping 20%.

One of the key areas of revenue for CCCC has been Africa, where the company is working on a number of major infrastructure projects in Kenya.

In December 2015, CCCC signed an agreement with the Kenyan government to build two sections of the Mombasa–Malaba railway. Last month, the company also won a US$ 1.5 billion contract to extend the Mombasa–Nairobi line by 120 km.

The line between Mombasa and Nairobi itself is currently being constructed by China Road and Bridge Corp, a subsidiary company of CCCC. This US$ 3.8 billion project is due for completion in 2017.

According to Mr Fu, CCCC’s strategy is to increase the number of overseas undertaken in the coming years, with a view to generating 50% of its income from non-domestic projects. He did not, however, give a deadline for meeting this target.