10
WORLD NEWS
CONSTRUCTION EUROPE
SEPTEMBER 2013
SOUTH AFRICA
Contractor Murray & Roberts has launched a cash
offer to acquire the 38.4% of Australian contractor
Clough that it does not already own. The offer has
been made at AU$1.46 (€0.99) per share, for a total
cost of AU$434 million (€294 million). This values
Clough at some AU$1.13 billion (€764 billion). Clough
forecast revenues of AU$1.5 billion (€1 billion) for the
financial year to the end of June this year. Operating
profits for the 12 months are expected to be AU$90
million (€61 million), and the company has an order
backlog of AU$2.32 billion (€1.6 billion).
AUSTRALIA
A consortium led by Thiess has been awarded a
AU$650 million (€434 million) contract to deliver
a 12.6km rail link in south east Queensland. The
Moreton Bay Rail Link will connect the greater
Brisbane rail network, which currently ends at Petrie,
a suburb north of the city, to the rapidly growing
Moreton Bay region to the east. Six new stations
will be built at Kippa-Ring, Rothwell, Mango Hill
East, Mango Hill, Murrumba Downs and Kallangur.
The Trackstar consortium also includes contractors
Aurecon, Aecom, Hassell, and Golder Associates. The
project is scheduled to be operational by June 2016.
INDIA
Materials producer CRH’s 50:50 joint venture in India
has acquired 3.2 million tonnes-per-year cement
producer Sree Jayajothi Cements for INR1,400 crore
(€175 million). CRH entered the Indian market in
2008 with the acquisition of a 50% stake in MHIL, a
cement business located in Andhra Pradesh in South
India. CRH said the joint venture’s acquisition of Sree
Jayajothi, also in Andhra Pradesh, would be financed
from MHIL’s existing debt and by €70 million equity.
CRH’s equity interest will amount to €35 million. With
the addition of Sree Jayajothi, CRH said MHIL would
become the market leader in the Andhra Pradesh
region.
US
US home builder Toll Brothers saw revenues and
home building deliveries rise in the third quarter of
2013, while income dropped. The company posted
net profits of US$46.6million (€35million), down from
US$61.6 million (€46 million) for the third quarter
of 2012, while revenues rose 24% year-on-year to
US$689 million (€516 million) and homebuilding
deliveries were up 10% to 1,059 units. The company
said it believed the recovery in the US was real, and it
was seeing the early stages of a rebound.
INDIA
The Asian Development Bank has agreed to finance a
further US$300 million (€224 million) for the upgrade
of 254km of highway as part of the Bihar State
Highways II Project in India. The project, which is
already underway, will widen existing sections of
four highways to two lanes, build and maintain
bridges, and strengthen pavement. The total cost of
the project – scheduled for completion in 2017 – is
US$375 million (€281 million), with the government
of Bihar providing the remainder of the funds. ADB
provided assistance to Bihar State Highways Project
I in 2008 and Project II in 2010.
WORLD IN BRIEF
Construction of the
Belo Monte Dam
on the Xingu River
in Para, Brazil, is
underway – a US$18.5
billion (€13.9 billion),
11,000MW project
that will become the
world’s third-largest
hydroelectric dam
when complete, which
is set to be in 2019.
Contractor CCBM
is using 14 Grove
RT540E cranes, four
Grove RT890E cranes,
three Grove RT765E-2
cranes and two Grove
RT9130E-2 models for
heavy lifting across the
project's four job sites.
US
LightSquared backer seeks
€1.4 billion damages
Harbinger Capital, a
private equity company
that invested in wireless
network developer
LightSquared, has filed
a lawsuit seeking US$1.9
billion (€1.4 billion)
in damages against
companies opposed to
LightSquared’s plans.
The defendants include
Deere & Co, which
owns the John Deere
equipment brand, as well
as technology companies
Trimble and Garmin,
which were against
LightSquared’s proposed
4G network because
they feared that it could
drown out current GPS
signals, including those
used in construction.
LightSquared entered
voluntary bankruptcy
in the US last summer,
claiming it needed
to resolve regulatory
issues preventing it from
building the network.
In the complaint,
Harbinger claims the
defendants knowingly
built devices that
would interfere with
signals from its planned
network.
However, Jim Kirkland,
vice president and
general counsel at
Trimble, said, “This
interference resulted
from the characteristics
of LightSquared’s new
plan for use of satellite
spectrum, not the design
of GPS devices."
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US
Mixed market data
Manufacturers see US exports slump, but
domestic output and employment are
expected to rise
D
ata about the US construction market has revealed a mixed picture, with
manufacturers reporting a slowdown in exports, while domestic construction
output and employment levels are said to have increased.
According to the Association of Equipment Manufacturers, US exports of construction
equipment were down 21% year-on-year in the first half of the year to U$10.8 billion
(€8.1 billion) at the end of June. Exports to Central America saw a 15% increase, but all
other regions of the world experienced double-digit declines.
However, industry wide construction output within the US for the 12 months to 30
June was up 3.3% on the position a year ago to US$884 billion (€662 billion), according
to the US Census Bureau. Residential construction was up 17.6% year-on-year to
US$338 billion (€253 billion) in the year to June, it while non-residential construction
was down 4% year-on-year at the end of June.
Meanwhile, employment in the US construction industry hit its highest level since
2008 in June, according the US Bureau of Labor. The total headcount increased 3.4%,
to 5.8 million and unemployment fell to 9.8% from 12.8% at the same point last year
– the first time the rate has fallen below double digits since 2008.
Residential and non-residential contractors added workers in nearly equal numbers.
Residential building and specialty trade contractors added 5,200 in June and 90,200
(4.4%) over 12 months, while non-residential building grew by 8,400 workers in June
and 99,800 (2.8%) from a year earlier.
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