Infrastructure special report
CONSTRUCTION: Waiting for taps to open again
Industry is suffering from government’s reluctance to invest in large infrastructure projects after the 2010 soccer World Cup
SA’s big construction companies are mostly still swimming in a sea of red ink, as government starves them of significant infrastructure projects. Many have shifted operations across the border into the rest of Africa. Some have gone global in their search for profits. Large JSE-listed construction companies such as Aveng, Murray & Roberts and Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon (WBHO) increasingly garner profits abroad. Group Five, meanwhile, has been kept afloat in recent years by its investments and concessions business. The latter develops and operates toll roads, including in SA, Zimbabwe, Hungary, Poland and Ireland. Most recently, the company’s Intertoll Europe underlying public-private-partnership project investment portfolio has sold a 49.99% interest to globally managed Aberdeen Infrastructure Funds for about €43m in cash, to invest in toll roads in Europe, Turkey and North America. This comes after the group suddenly announced in late February in its interim results to December 2016...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.