The British design and engineering consultancy Atkins improved its Middle East performance last year after major railway contract wins in the region.
Besides design contract wins for the Riyadh metro, a boom in the UAE property sector “[offset] restructuring costs and delays to project mobilisation during the first half of the financial year”, the company said in a filing to the London Stock Exchange.
The division’s operating profits rose 22 per cent to £14.4 million (Dh89.02m) in the financial year ending March 31, the company reported yesterday. It also led to a 3.8 per cent rise in revenues to £168.4m for the division.
In the first half of last year, restructuring costs and project delays in Bahrain and Kuwait cut the division’s operating profits.
“We had some strong performance in Middle East and most of that came through from the second half last year by winning large projects like Riyadh metro and strong growth in the UAE and Dubai, with the property market coming back. A number of projects were restarted, besides new projects,” said Simon Moon, Atkins’ chief executive for the Middle East.
“Our real focus of growth is in rail, infrastructure and property sectors [in the region], and in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.”
The profit margin in the region was about 8 per cent, which was a 22 per cent increase over the previous year, it said. Staff numbers rose by 4.6 per cent to reach 2,071 people. Of these, 71 employees came to the region after the British company’s acquisition of the Singapore-based project management business Confluence. Atkins has 1,000 people in the UAE and 500 in Qatar.
It won a £75m design contract for Riyadh Metro in October.
Atkins won the designing contract for Habtoor Residences in Dubai in November. It is also working on Emaar’s opera house in Downtown Dubai. In Abu Dhabi, it is developing four new schools in the capital and Al Ain, and a Hilton project in Ras Al Khaimah.
In Saudi Arabia, it is bidding for the metro projects in Mecca, Madinah, Damman and Jeddah. It is also bidding for the Abu Dhabi light rail system.
Atkins expects to bid for the extension of the Dubai Metro system to the Expo2020 site this year, along with the expansion of Dubai Metro’s existing routes, Mr Moon said.
Its order book stands at 62.7 per cent of next year’s budgeted revenue, down from 80.2 per cent of the last financial year.
“It is not that we have less work but that we have several large projects under negotiations,” he said.
The company’s global pre-tax underlying profits grew 7.3 per cent to £106.4m and revenues increased 2.6 per cent to £1.75 billion with improved performance in North America and Britain, Atkins said. It has net funds of £188.3m.
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Company%20Profile
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Essentials
The flights
Emirates, Etihad and Malaysia Airlines all fly direct from the UAE to Kuala Lumpur and on to Penang from about Dh2,300 return, including taxes.
Where to stay
In Kuala Lumpur, Element is a recently opened, futuristic hotel high up in a Norman Foster-designed skyscraper. Rooms cost from Dh400 per night, including taxes. Hotel Stripes, also in KL, is a great value design hotel, with an infinity rooftop pool. Rooms cost from Dh310, including taxes.
In Penang, Ren i Tang is a boutique b&b in what was once an ancient Chinese Medicine Hall in the centre of Little India. Rooms cost from Dh220, including taxes.
23 Love Lane in Penang is a luxury boutique heritage hotel in a converted mansion, with private tropical gardens. Rooms cost from Dh400, including taxes.
In Langkawi, Temple Tree is a unique architectural villa hotel consisting of antique houses from all across Malaysia. Rooms cost from Dh350, including taxes.
Juliot Vinolia’s checklist for adopting alternate-day fasting
- Don’t do it more than once in three days
- Don’t go under 700 calories on fasting days
- Ensure there is sufficient water intake, as the body can go in dehydration mode
- Ensure there is enough roughage (fibre) in the food on fasting days as well
- Do not binge on processed or fatty foods on non-fasting days
- Complement fasting with plant-based foods, fruits, vegetables, seafood. Cut out processed meats and processed carbohydrates
- Manage your sleep
- People with existing gastric or mental health issues should avoid fasting
- Do not fast for prolonged periods without supervision by a qualified expert
US PGA Championship in numbers
1 Joost Luiten produced a memorable hole in one at the par-three fourth in the first round.
2 To date, the only two players to win the PGA Championship after winning the week before are Rory McIlroy (2014 WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) and Tiger Woods (2007, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational). Hideki Matsuyama or Chris Stroud could have made it three.
3 Number of seasons without a major for McIlroy, who finished in a tie for 22nd.
4 Louis Oosthuizen has now finished second in all four of the game's major championships.
5 In the fifth hole of the final round, McIlroy holed his longest putt of the week - from 16ft 8in - for birdie.
6 For the sixth successive year, play was disrupted by bad weather with a delay of one hour and 43 minutes on Friday.
7 Seven under par (64) was the best round of the week, shot by Matsuyama and Francesco Molinari on Day 2.
8 Number of shots taken by Jason Day on the 18th hole in round three after a risky recovery shot backfired.
9 Jon Rahm's age in months the last time Phil Mickelson missed the cut in the US PGA, in 1995.
10 Jimmy Walker's opening round as defending champion was a 10-over-par 81.
11 The par-four 11th coincidentally ranked as the 11th hardest hole overall with a scoring average of 4.192.
12 Paul Casey was a combined 12 under par for his first round in this year's majors.
13 The average world ranking of the last 13 PGA winners before this week was 25. Kevin Kisner began the week ranked 25th.
14 The world ranking of Justin Thomas before his victory.
15 Of the top 15 players after 54 holes, only Oosthuizen had previously won a major.
16 The par-four 16th marks the start of Quail Hollow's so-called "Green Mile" of finishing holes, some of the toughest in golf.
17 The first round scoring average of the last 17 major champions was 67.2. Kisner and Thorbjorn Olesen shot 67 on day one at Quail Hollow.
18 For the first time in 18 majors, the eventual winner was over par after round one (Thomas shot 73).
Frida%20
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Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
MO
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5