Engineering and construction services firm Murray & Roberts (M&R) incurred an attributable loss of R167-million for the six months ended December 31, 2020, mainly as a result of the impact of prolonged Covid-19 restrictions, especially in the Mining platform.
The firm notes, however, that a disappointing result by the Power, Industrial & Water platform, as well as a lower fair value adjustment profit from the investment in the Bombela Concession Company, had also contributed to the loss.
Revenue from continuing operations was maintained at R10.8-billion, but earnings before interest and taxes decreased to R117-million, from the R419-million recorded in the six months ended December 31, 2019.
M&R recorded a headline loss a share of 8c.
Nevertheless, the group recorded significant growth in its order book to R60.5-billion owing to the significant growth in the Energy, Resources & Infrastructure (ERI) platform’s order book.
This growth follows the award of several multibillion-rand projects in the energy, resources and infrastructure sectors.
Although the 2021 financial year is proving to be a challenging one for the group, the current order book and near orders hold promising potential for a significant turnaround in the 2022 financial year.
“During the past three years, the group broadened its market focus to mitigate market cyclicality and subsequently renamed its business platforms to better reflect the market sectors in which they operate as specialist contractors.
"This decision contributed to significant order book growth for the ERI platform, which reported an all-time high order book. The group expects the ERI platform to make a significant contribution to earnings in full year 2022,” M&R Group CE Henry Laas says.