Brierty profit falls 3%

Construction contractor Brierty has announced a full-year profit of $9.9 million, a 3 per cent fall from $10.2 million last year, after meeting revenue expectations of $251.1 million.

Brierty said revenue had fallen from $292.4 million last year as a result of the competitive conditions, for large projects in particular, that prevailed throughout the year in the construction sector.

The board declared a fully franked dividend of 1.75 cents per share, bringing its full-year dividend payout to 3 cents per share.

“Recognition of Brierty’s strong reputation in project delivery has enabled the company to enter FY15 with a record book of $570 million,” the company said in a statement.

“With this in place, combined with the company’s financial flexibility, Brierty expects to deliver an increase in revenue for FY15 to at least $300 million.”

Brierty said earnings from its mining division increased through sustained increased production from its mining contract for Karara Mining.

“This contract is drawing to a close in FY15, however, Brierty has already begun to transition personnel and equipment to its larger $300 million contract at Rio Tinto’s Western Turner Syncline Stage 2 project,” the company said.

Brierty recorded cash on hand of $27.2 million, which was used to reduce the company’s debt levels.

Brierty managing director Peter McBain said the company had more than doubled its cash on hand in 12 months, while gross debt was cut by more than $8 million.

“This prudent capital management allowed us to deliver value for shareholders, by comfortably maintaining our dividend payout ratio while providing us with a solid base to deliver on our record order book,” Mr McBain said.

Looking ahead, Brierty said it expects to win ongoing smaller contracts throughout the year across a range of projects.

“Brierty has entered the year with negligible debt, which provides significant flexibility to invest capital to fund our current order book, particularly the Western Turner Syncline Stage 2 project for Rio Tinto and other new projects,” Mr McBain said.

“Our priorities for the coming 12 months remain unchanged.”

Brierty’s share price fell by 7.94 per cent to 58 cents per share at 10:10am.