German builder Hochtief says 2009 net income rose to $263 million as total orders grow

Hochtief 2009 net income improves to $263 million

FRANKFURT — German building company and airport operator Hochtief AG said Thursday its 2009 net income increased 25 percent to euro195 million ($263 million) as the order book for building projects reached an all-time record.

Hochtief, based in Essen, reported net income of euro157 million in 2008.

New incoming orders, a measure of revenue, declined 11 percent to euro23 billion from euro25 billion in 2008. However, the total order book, a measure of future work and revenue, increased 15 percent to euro36 billion from euro31 billion.

Hochtief said in its report that while “the global economic recession has clearly bottomed out,” it expected a slow economic recovery in 2010.

The company said the slow growth would result in lower orders, but it expects that it will be able to increase operating profit to euro1 billion in 2010 from euro601 million in 2009.

The company said the Hochtief Construction division, which oversees its European building business, saw a marked turnaround in especially the German market during 2009. Hochtief Construction also earned its largest ever single order to build the eight kilometer (five mile) long Barwa Commercial Avenue retail area in Doha, Qatar. That project is valued at euro1.3 billion.

Hochtief said its Turner unit in the U.S. also secured some major contracts in 2009, including hospitals at Princeton and Yale Universities and several schools in Los Angeles and New York.

Turner, based in New York was the project and construction management company for the world’s largest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai, United Arab Emirates which opened in early 2010. The tower is more than 800 meters tall, or more than 2,600 feet.

Hochtief said in the Asia-Pacific region, its Leighton subsidiary, based in Australia, saw added contracts because of Australian government-funded infrastructure projects, like upgrading a rail link between Maitland and Whittingham.

Hochtief also operates infrastructure concessions like roadways and airports and has stakes in airports including Duesseldorf, Germany; Tirana, Albania; and Sydney, Australia.

It said the concessions division’s portfolio increased more than 8 percent in 2009 to euro1.6 billion, while traffic at the company’s six airports fell just 1.4 percent to 89 million passengers.

Hochtief said the concession division was involved in 27 projects at the end of 2009 including airports, roads, tunnels, and geothermal power plants with a total value of more than euro6 billion.

Shares of Hochtief rose 4 percent on the results and bright outlook to euro59.55 in Frankfurt morning trading.

On the Net:

www.hochtief.com