Leighton Holdings

By Dan Stratful

Friday 30th March 2012

Leighton Holding’s (ASX: LEI) shares were hammered this week after the contractor entered a trading halt, and then resumed trading, after revealing further problems with 2 of its Australian projects – the Airport Link Road Project (APL) in Queensland and the Victorian Desalination Plant (VDP).

Contracting can be a tough business, as unforeseen cost blow-outs and cost over-runs periodically crop up, catching investors unaware, as the company books a non-cash write-down due to a mis-priced contract.

LEI is not the first company to experience problems with projects. Transfield Services and Downer EDI also had problems with projects and Downer took write-down’s of over $500 million on its Waratah Train project.

LEI reports that the APL project has been hit by higher than expected commissioning costs, which are now forecast to be more costly than anticipated, while forecast productivity on the site is not being achieved. The VDP project has been hit by construction slippage and flooding of the in/out-take tunnels which have proven to be more difficult than LEI expected.

Both these events mean LEI has reduced its underlying net profit guidance for the first half ending 30 June 2012 to in a range of between $100-$150 million. Full year underlying net profit for the year ending 31 December 2012 (FY12) is expected to come in at between $400-$450 million.

Analysts’ in Australia note that the latest problems have hurt the company’s credibility and shareholder confidence, and several brokers have downgraded the stock to Underperform.

LEI remains a significant international player with around $44.5 billion of work in hand, but the execution of some of its projects has recently been disappointing. Given its overall financial position, LEI currently has no need to raise capital.

About Leighton Holdings:
LEI is one of the world’s leading international contractors, and the world’s largest contract miner operating through a number of companies including - Leighton Contractors, Thiess, John Holland, Habtoor Leighton Group, Leighton Africa, Leighton Asia, Leighton Welspun India, Leighton Offshore and Leighton Properties. Overall it provides development, construction, contract mining, and operation and maintenance services to the infrastructure, resources and property markets throughout more than 20 countries.

Status: AVOID

LEI’s shares today traded at $21.80

For portfolio, sharemarket and fixed income enquires contact:
Dan Stratful at Investment Research Group (IRG)
Authorised Financial Adviser (AFA)
0800 437 8489, 09 304 0232, dan.stratful@irg.co.nz
**A disclosure statement is available, on request and free of charge.

Disclaimer
In accordance with the Financial Advisers Act 2008 (“the Act”) Sharechat is “Class Advice” and any advice or recommendations contained on this webpage is not “Personalised Advice” as defined by the Act. This means Sharechat does not take into account an investor’s particular financial position, financial needs, financial goals, risk profile or asset allocation. Investor’s who require “Personalised Advice” should contact an Authorised Financial Adviser (AFA).

Comments from our readers

No comments yet