Veidekke full-year revenues rise

Norwegian contractor Veidekke reported full-year 2012 revenues of NOK20.5 billion (€2.8 billion), up 14% year-on-year, as construction and property development revenues registered growth.

However, 2012 gross profit slipped NOK71 million (€9.6 million) year-on-year to NOK680 million (€92 million), as the company’s margins still faced pressure.

President and CEO Terje Venold said the company – which operates in Norway, Sweden and Denmark – was satisfied with the results.

“The market conditions vary enormously between the three countries in which we operate, and most of the growth is in the Norwegian operations, primarily construction and property development,” he said.

Construction operations had an order backlog of NOK15 billion (€2 billion) at the end of December 2012, compared to NOK13.9 billion (€1.9 billion) at the same point in 2011.

The company said Norwegian housing and non-residential building projects were on a good level, but heavy construction operations were not achieving the results the company had expected.

In Sweden, Veidekke reported that a positive trend in construction had continued, even though some parts of the Swedish market were slightly weaker than expected.

And in Denmark, the company said its Hoffmann subsidiary had decided to focus on developing its expertise aimed at directly negotiated contracts with customers, which resulted in reduced volumes, but a significant increase in the profit margins.