Opus half-year profit slumps 44%

Thursday 13th August 2009

Opus International Consultants, the infrastructure advisory firm, posted a 44% fall in half-year profit as its UK and Australian operations' "greater reliance on private sector clients" weighed on the bottom line.

Net profit fell to $5.1 million, or four cents per share, from $9.1 million, or 6.2 cents per share, a year earlier, the Wellington-based company said in a statement.

In March, Opus slashed a fifth of its UK workforce as it tried to stem losses and adjust to the worst recession in 30 years.

The UK operations reported an operating loss of $6.7 million, while the Australian arm reported a loss of $700,000 before interest and taxation.

"The UK and Australian markets, where we have experienced our greatest challenges, are showing some encouraging signs," said chairman Kerry McDonald in a statement. The earnings from these operations could have been worse had the company not acted to trim costs earlier this year, he said.

The shares were unchanged at $1.29 on the NZX yesterday, after the company announced its results once the bourse had closed. The stock has retreated 3.7% in the past six months.

Opus will pay an interim dividend of 2.6 cents a share, the same return as last year. The company boosted overall revenue 4.7% to $180 million, just below analyst Forsyth Barr's expectations, as the New Zealand and Canadian businesses continued to perform strongly. It's rated ‘outperform' by two of four analysts surveyed by Reuters.

Opus's prospects won't be dimmed at all by Finance Minister Bill English's announcement yesterday that the government looks to make extensive use of public-private partnerships to boost investment in infrastructure.

Businesswire.co.nz

Comments from our readers

No comments yet