DULL BUSINESS MOMENT FOR JULIUS BERGER

Julius Berger Nigeria’s profit dips 70% on break in construction sector

The respite in the construction sector of the Nigerian economy has impacted pessimistically on the operations of Julius Berger Nigeria (JBN) Plc,  leading to a dip of 70 per cent in profit after tax(PAT) for the year ended December 31, 2015.  JBN is a leading construction company offering integrated construction solutions and related services. The company handles important percentage of   federal and state governments’ construction works.

Though, given the fall in the revenue of government caused by the turn down price of crude oil, most major construction works, including roads and houses, have been delay since the second half of last year.

And the audited results of JBN appear to be reflecting the negative brunt of  that as its revenue and profit declined. proceeds for 2015 stood at N133.807 billion, showing a decline of 32 per cent from the N196.808 billion in 2014.  A breakdown of the revenue showed that earnings from Civil works fell by 30 per cent from N1019.3 billion in 2014 to N75.8 billion, while revenue from Building works and Services declined by 33 per cent from N70.38 billion to N46.64 billion and from N17.088 billion to N11.32 billion respectively. Gross profit fell from N50.495 billion to N33.334 billion.

However, JBN strived to reduce charge of operations. For instance, marketing operating cost was reduced from N116.8 million to N75 million, while administrative expenses declined from N31.497 billion to N21.445 billion. Financial cost rose from N5.9 billion to N6.148 billion.