(up EUR 0.16 billion or 29.9 percent), which noticeably
cushioned the extraordinary effect from international
business.
The vast majority of the HOCHTIEF Concessions division's
holdings are not fully consolidated. The high volume of new
orders of the Al Habtoor Leighton Group is also not included
due to equity-method consolidation. Thus these statistics
do not include some of the high-volume new orders.
Overall, HOCHTIEF's new orders in Germany decreased
as projected compared with 2007 (especially in building
construction) (down EUR 0.64 billion or 20.1 percent). By
contrast, the international segment recorded an increase
of 11.9 percent. Internationally posted new orders now account
for a total of 89.9 percent.
Clear rise in Group work done
Compared with 2007 (EUR 18.77 billion), work done increased
by EUR 2.87 billion to EUR 21.64 billion – an increase
of 15.3 percent. Adjusted for exchange rate effects – primarily
against the US dollar and the Australian dollar – the
increase was as much as 21.1 percent.
The rise resulted primarily from solid contributions from
Leighton's infrastructure and contract mining projects in
the Asia-Pacific region and building construction business
in the USA, where Turner, as the leading provider, played
a significant part in the increase.
Within Europe, work done increased again at HOCHTIEF
Europe (up 12.9 percent), HOCHTIEF Real Estate (up 56.2
percent) and HOCHTIEF Services (up 21.8 percent). While
HOCHTIEF Europe's growth was generated almost exclusively
on international markets, work done at HOCHTIEF
Real Estate and HOCHTIEF Services increased both in
Germany and internationally in 2008.
This was the second year in a row that work done increased
in Germany. The absolute figure of EUR 2.82 billion
represents a rise of 17.2 percent (2007: EUR 2.41 billion).
By way of long-term service and concession agreements,
HOCHTIEF Concessions and HOCHTIEF Services contributed
substantially to the increase. At EUR 1.58 billion,
HOCHTIEF Construction maintained the high level of 2007
in Germany.
The share of Group work done attributable to international
business, namely 87 percent, clearly illuminates once again
the Group's international orientation.
Despite huge growth of 15.3 percent, Group work done in
2008 fell short of new orders by EUR 3.64 billion. Accordingly,
the order backlog grew further.
Order backlog: Up by more than EUR 4 billion after
exchange rate adjustment
The order backlog reached almost EUR 31 billion. It
increased
by EUR 1.03 billion to an absolute value of EUR
30.92 billion,
exceeding the figure for 2007 (EUR 29.89
billion)
by 3.4 percent. However, the order backlog is highly
distorted by considerable exchange rate effects against
the Australian dollar: Adjusted for exchange rate effects,
the order backlog now amounts to EUR 34.07 billion –
which represents a year-on-year increase of EUR 4.18
billion or 14 percent.
Whereas the order backlog in Germany declined by 8.2
percent in 2008 compared with 2007, the order books for
international business were much better filled (up 5.2 percent).
The increase in the backlog was principally attributable
to Leighton's extremely good business performance.
Based on the current annual work done figure, the Group
has a forward order book of almost one and a half years.
