Dubai: Arabtec on Sunday reported losses continued in the second quarter and reached Dh998.1 million in the first-half of this year, compared with a net profit of Dh240.3 million same period in 2014. Losses in the second quarter specifically was Dh718.3 million, against a net gain of Dh102.4 million a year ago.
But the company also issued a statement saying it expects to see the first signs of a turnaround during the fourth quarter this year, and the full “benefits” from next year.
It is the first time that Arabtec has outlined its expectations about when it is likely to see results from the restructuring exercise of recent months.
As part of the restructuring, it ‘identified a number of poorly performing projects and is taking corrective action in response to these legacy issues.’
It would leave the company with a current project backlog valued at a ‘healthy’ Dh20.2 billion plus.
A new management team has taken over the helm of operations, including, just recently, a new chief financial officer.
A third initiative was to trim ‘selling, general and administration costs’ across the board — thus ‘implementing an extensive restructuring programme aimed at reaching the highest levels of operational efficiency whilst maintaining the group’s competitiveness in the market’, the statement added.
According to investors in Arabtec stocks, any near-term conclusion of its contracts in Egypt “will be a boost for both the top- and bottom-line, as and when that materialises.
“As for the present, what is of some concern is that top line revenues have also registered a decrease, suggesting that ongoing consolidation efforts have perhaps put the brakes on market acquisition.”
