Southern Cross Electrical Engineering has booked a 17 per cent drop in interim net profit, which it says was the result contract signing delays on two major projects.
SCEE today reported a net profit of $4.3 million for the six months to December 31, down from $5.1 million the previous corresponding half year.
Revenue hit $120.6 million, up from $84.2 million in the half year to December 31, 2011.
Managing director Simon High said the profit dip was due to the late signing of contracts with Anglogold Ashanti at the Tropicana gold mine and Rio Tinto’s Cape Lambert Port expansion, which deferred revenue on those projects to the second half of the year.
SCEE had $186 million in secured work in its order book at December 31, $140 million of which is expected to be executed in FY2013.
“The significant increase in revenue against the corresponding prior period is pleasing and leaves us well placed to deliver another record result in FY13,” Mr High said in a statement.
“While it was disappointing that we could not also report an increase in net profit, were it not for the later-than-anticipated award of key contracts I am confident this would have been the case.”
Mr High said the outlook was buoyant, with a substantial pipeline of work across the markets in which SCEE operates.
“With up to $7 billion of electrical and instrumentation work expected to be performed over the next five years on Australian LNG projects, the LNG sector offers SCEE an unprecedented growth opportunity,” he said.
At close of trade, SCEE shares were down 3 per cent, trading at $1.26.
