Drake and Scull makes Dh34m in third quarter

Construction design and engineering firm, Drake and Scull International, made Dh432 million in revenue and Dh34 million in net profit, for the third quarter of the year, bringing its nine-month revenue to Dh1.2 billion and its net profit to Dh121 million.

"This year, we have invested a significant amount of resources into expanding our operations and entering new markets. Consequently, the results this quarter reflect the measure and the outcome of our expansion and we remain optimistic about the future outlook of the company as we believe these activities will pave the way for sustainable growth in 2011 and beyond," DSI chief executive Khaldoun Tabari said in a statement.

This year, the company has set up offices in Egypt, Syria, Oman and Saudi Arabia, and recently announced the planned acquisition of a civil contracting company in Saudi Arabia.

It also finalised the acquisition of a mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) company in the kingdom.

"The company's current backlog stands at Dh4.7 billion and we anticipate Dh1 billion worth of new projects till the end of the year, as a result of our aggressive expansion plans," Tabari said. "It is likely that Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia will generate the majority of these."

Chief financial officer Osama Hamdan commented: "Delay in execution of newly awarded projects affected our profit stream, especially when our overheads and preconstruction expenses are continually incurred. Civil contracting projects have contributed to 25 per cent of total revenue in the third quarter. In this quarter, we have progressed well on our civil business and this has been the key contributor to revenue. However, this has also impacted our overall margins as civil business has lower margins, compared to our other MEP and water and power businesses."