Hochtief Q3 Net Income Up 44 Pct To Euro36 Million

GEORGE FREY

FRANKFURT (AP) — German building company and airport operator Hochtief AG said Thursday its third quarter net profit improved 44 percent and said it was increasing its order backlog outlook for the full year.

Hochtief, based in Essen, said it earned euro36 million in the July-September period compared with euro25 million in the third quarter a year ago.

Revenue declined to euro4.6 billion from euro4.8 billion in the third quarter a year ago, a 4 percent decrease.

However, new incoming orders increased slightly to euro7.22 billion from euro7.18 billion in the third quarter a year ago and the standing order backlog for the period increased nearly 8 percent to euro35.3 billion from euro32.8 billion.

Hochtief, which is involved in large construction projects like office buildings and schools internationally, owns the construction subsidiaries Turner and Flatiron in the U.S. and Leighton in Australia.

Hochtief also has stakes in airports including Duesseldorf, Germany; Tirana, Albania; and Sydney, Australia.

"We have so far steered a successful course through the financial crisis because we had kept our structures streamlined in the past and framed our financing policy conservatively," Herbert Luetkestratkoetter, the company's chief executive, said in the report.