HOCHTIEF Services Division
| (EUR million) | Q1 2008 |
Q1 2007 |
Percentage change | Full year 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New orders | 137.2 | 126.5 | 8.5 | 892.6 |
| Work done | 162.0 | 123.7 | 31.0 | 582.3 |
| Order backlog | 1,528.6 | 1,016.5 | 50.4 | 1,602.2 |
| Divisional sales | 161.7 | 122.2 | 32.3 | 582.1 |
| External sales | 160.6 | 119.3 | 34.6 | 555.9 |
| Operating earnings (EBITA) | 4.2 | 3.4 | 23.5 | 22.0 |
| Profit before taxes | 3.4 | 3.2 | 6.3 | 20.4 |
| Capital expenditure | 1.0 | 0.8 | 25.0 | 16.5 |
| Net assets | 207.0 | 98.0 | 111.2 | 179.0 |
| Employees | 5542 (End Q1 2008) | 4362 (End Q1 2007) | 27.1 | 4771 (2007 average) |
Measured against the first three months of 2007, its new orders climbed by 8.5 percent to EUR 137.2 million. The rise is attributable to activities both abroad and at home, where the division acquired several appealing projects, including the orders for the Abbott pharmaceutical group and the Fürst Wrede barracks. By way of a school project in Bremen, the Energy Management unit also contributed to the increase in new orders.
Both work done and external sales were considerably higher than the previous year's figures. The surge originates from the acquisition of additional work in connection with existing projects in Germany and from the new orders won in 2007. The school projects in the United Kingdom that got underway in 2007 and our sports facility projects in Greece also contributed to the rise in work done. The yearon- year increase in work done by the Energy Management unit is largely attributable to the acquisition of Vattenfall Europe Contracting in 2007. The order backlog advanced as well, by 50.4 percent, because of the long-term major projects acquired in 2007.
Operating earnings reached EUR 4.2 million, an increase of nearly 24 percent on the figure for the first three months of 2007. Profit before taxes was up 6.3 percent on the same period in 2007, at EUR 3.4 million. The cost of finance for the Vattenfall acquisition is reflected in this figure.
This acquisition also made a strong impact on net assets, which rose year on year by 111.2 percent.
Acquisitions, including Vattenfall in particular, raised the number of employees to 5,542.
HOCHTIEF Facility Management remains on course for further growth both in Germany and – to an increasing extent - in the international arena, also through the company"s expansion into new markets. For the next five years, HOCHTIEF Facility Management Swiss will be responsible for managing the technical and infrastructure facilities of the Biopark Rosental research site in Basel. This R&D facility
In addition, HOCHTIEF Facility Management is to take charge of managing the Ludwigshafen facility of Abbott, the international pharmaceutical manufacturer, within the framework of an outsourcing project. Abbott produces active ingredients and medication on this site.
Following the acquisition of Vattenfall Europe Contracting in 2007, we founded HOCHTIEF Energy Management GmbH in January 2008. Our existing energy management business was brought into the new company, which ranks among the leading German providers in the energy contracting and energy management sectors.
The new orders won by HOCHTIEF Energy Management in the first quarter of 2008 included an energy-saving contracting assignment for seven schools in Bremen. In the next ten years, we are to reduce the educational establishments? energy costs by an annual total of EUR 319,000. HOCHTIEF is guaranteeing the client a cost saving of 35 percent a year for the entire term of the project.
