(technical replay)

ESSEN (dpa-AFX) - Construction group Hochtief has started the new year with a jump in profits. In the first quarter, consolidated net profit adjusted for special effects rose by 16.3 percent year-on-year to 137.5 million euros, the company announced in Essen on Tuesday. Above all, business at the foreign subsidiary and the Spanish freeway operator Abertis, in which Hochtief holds around 20 percent, is running significantly better. The Essen-based group, which is about to return to the MDax mid-cap index, confirmed its profit target for the full year. The share price rose 2.7 percent to 78.55 euros in afternoon trading.

The global economy is currently struggling with significant macro-economic challenges, wrote company CEO Juan Santamaría Cases in a letter to shareholders. Hochtief is actively countering these challenges, he said. The company is well positioned for the future, he said, thanks to its geographic footprint and a strongly risk-minimized and growing order book. The Group is achieving high growth in several high-tech infrastructure sectors and winning projects in the areas of energy transition, new mobility concepts and digitalization.

For the full year, the Hochtief Management Board continues to expect net profit adjusted for special items of between 510 and 550 million euros due to well-filled order books. In 2022, adjusted profit had increased by almost 156 percent to just under 522 million euros.

In the first quarter, net profit adjusted for special items increased by 16.3 percent year-on-year to 137.5 million euros. Including special items, Hochtief reported a profit of 127.5 million euros in the first three months of 2023. This was a fifth more than in the previous year. New orders swelled by around 30 percent to 8.5 billion euros, while the order backlog stood at 51.8 billion euros at the end of March.

Sales climbed 16 percent to just under 6.2 billion euros. All three regions contributed to the increase. While in North America the data center, industrial and transportation businesses in particular grew, at the Australian subsidiary Cimic all construction and service businesses contributed to the increase. Hochtief generates 97 percent of its revenues outside its home market of Germany./mne/jsl/he