Porr claims third rise in a row

Preliminary results for 2014 from Austrian-based contractor Porr show that it has managed to increase earnings for the third year in a row, with the company attributing the positive trend to a strategy of “intelligent growth”.

It said that on the basis of unaudited preliminary figures for last year, Porr was expecting EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of around €156 million.

It said this represented a rise of around 7% against the previous year’s figure of €147 million. Preliminary pre-tax earnings are put at around €66 million, an increase of around 11% on 2013’s €60 million. It said that the comparative figures for 2013 had been adjusted to facilitate comparisons as a result of the spin-off of its real estate business in December 2014.

Following the spin-off, the total assets of Porr at 31 December, 2014, are expected to be €2.146 billion, which Porr said would show a decline of around 7% as a result of the spin-off.

It said these measures and the working capital improvements which had been implemented had enabled Porr to achieve a net cash position of around €65 million – described by the company as “a significant improvement” of over €420 million against the previous year.