Decmil seeks to leave legacy issues behind

Investors have seemingly welcomed news that Decmil has settled legacy disputes and finished up loss-making projects, with shares in the contractor closing the day up more than 18 per cent.

Decmil issued an update to market this morning advising that its profitability was continuing to improve and that its long-term outlook was increasingly strong.

It comes after a tough period for the contractor.

Decmil has grappled with soft financial results and a raft of legal disputes, which chief executive Rod Heale told the market today had been resolved.

“We fully expect Decmil’s EBITDA will continue to improve now that legacy disputes have been settled; loss-making projects have been completed,” he said.

“We are focused on profitable contracts over revenue; and a robust tender pipeline is available to capitalise on our near-term and medium-term horizon.”

That pipeline of work is also tipped to include $300 million worth of new contracts that Decmil said were in the late to final stages of negotiations.

Mr Heale also pointed to what he said was an improved working capital position made possible due to greater contributions from higher-quality projects.

“This is directly correlated to improvements the company has made to operations, reporting, processes for project selection and tendering,” he said.

Decmil shares closed the day up 18.18 per cent to trade at 20 cents each.