Implenia: Loss in the first half of the year
Implenia increased sales in the first half of 2017, but posted a loss of CHF 11.9 million. This was due to problems in the Norwegian business and claims in connection with the pending proceedings regarding the Letzigrund stadium.
Implenia's sales reached CHF 1.69 billion in the first half of this year, compared with CHF 1.57 billion in the same period last year. At EBITDA level, the Group generated a result of CHF 34.5 million (previous year: CHF 53.8 million). Excluding the amortization costs for the intangible assets (PPA) acquired as part of the takeovers of Bilfinger Construction and Bilfinger Hochbau, EBIT for the divisions amounted to CHF 0.1 million (previous year restated: CHF 31.5 million).
The operating result (incl. PPA) was -9.6 million, compared with 19.5 million in the previous year. The bottom line was a net loss of 11.9 million, compared with a profit of 9.2 million for Implenia in the previous year. Excluding the financial adjustments, consolidated net profit amounted to 15.8 million.
Implenia cites adjustments to the project portfolio in Norway and claims in connection with the pending Letzigrund stadium proceedings as reasons for the loss. In addition, the optimization measures taken in the Swiss space business have been accelerated.
Despite the difficulties, Implenia says it is "confident about the coming months and beyond". The other business units are on track and reported good to very good results for the first half of the year. At 6.1 billion, the order backlog at the end of June 2017 was significantly higher than the previous year's figure of 5.2 billion.
For the current year, Implenia expects EBIT for the divisions to be slightly below 100 million. The company is sticking to its medium-term targets of a top-line volume of around five billion and an EBITDA margin of between 5.25 percent and 5.75 percent.
