S.Africa's Aveng FY profit falls, order book up

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's biggest construction group Aveng reported a 58 percent decline in full-year earnings on Wednesday, reflecting an industry-wide slump at home and write-downs on contracts.

Aveng said diluted headline earnings per share totalled 119.8 cents in the end-June compared with 286.6 cents a year earlier.

Headline EPS, the main profit measure in South Africa, strips out certain one-time items.

South African construction firms avoided the 2008 global building slump thanks to the construction boom in the run-up to the 2010 soccer World Cup.

But they are now struggling to replenish their order books as the South African government delays rolling out its nearly 1 trillion rand infrastructure investment package.

Aveng said its two-year order book rose by 27 percent to 47 billion rand in the past 12 months, underpinned by strong demand from mining and energy sectors in Australia.

The group said it was awarded two renewable energy contracts -- a 75MW solar project and a 138MW wind plant -- in the second submission round.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/africas-aveng-fy-profit-falls-order-book-053724236--finance.html

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