Brierty profit on track, abandons Wormall deal

Civil construction firm Brierty Ltd has been marked down more than 5 per cent by the market today, on news that it had ended an acquisition deal and delivered an interim result which it says puts it on track to meet its prospectus forecast.

Maddington-based Brierty shares were down 7 cents to $1.18 each at the close after the company delivered its first ever interim result following last year's ASX listing, a $2.3 million net profit, up 6 per cent on the previous corresponding period, on revenue of $116.1 million, up 65 per cent.

The company also revealed it had decided not to go ahead with its acquisition of private WA civil construction firm Wormall Group for as much as $60 million.

The decision comes shortly before the end of a three-month exclusive period of negotiations which was announced in early December as part of a standstill agreement with Wormall, which reportedly had an unaudited pre-tax profit (EBITDA) of $16 million for the year ending June 30, 2007.

Brierty managing director Alan Brierty said in an announcement to the stock exchange that his company had an pre-tax profit of $6.6 million for the six months ending December 31.

He said he was confident that the company would meet its full-year net profit forecast of $5.2 million.

Brierty has a market capitalisation of $129.8 million.