Skanska Year-End Report, 1999
SKANSKA YEAR-END REPORT, 1999 BOKSLUTSKOMMUNIKÉ 1999 STRONG GROWTH AND SHARPLY HIGHER EARNINGS * Order bookings rose by 25 percent to SEK 96,894 M (77,383) * Net sales rose by 27 percent to SEK 79,128 M (62,435) * Income from operations, gross, rose by 61 percent to SEK 2,259 M (1,407) * Earnings per share amounted to SEK 37.6 (24.4) * Proposed regular dividend of SEK 12 per share (12) * Proposed extra dividend of SEK 4 per share * Proposal concerning buy-backs of shares "On the whole, 1999 was a very good year for Skanska," says Skanska's President and CEO Claes Björk in a comment to the Group's 1999 Year-End Report. "We had strong growth in construction operations, at the same time as our margins improved significantly. Through acquisitions, we entered new geographic markets with attractive potential. We have also established ourselves as a large-scale supplier of construction-related services within telecommunications and information technology. Here, as in facilities management, I see good opportunities to further enlarge our operations over the next few years. "Our project development operations also expanded. Altogether we invested nearly SEK 6 billion in new commercial and residential projects last year. Another important element of our strategy is to sell the projects and properties that we develop. Last year we sold nearly SEK 4 billion worth of properties, with capital gains totaling SEK 1 billion. Our remaining property portfolio and ongoing projects still have substantial surplus value that we will realize over time. "We are continuing to focus increasingly on our core business. Having divested our shares in Scancem last year and our holding in SKF early this year, our last significant non-core shareholdings have been sold, in both cases with good capital gains. "The capital thus freed up will be invested primarily in our core business. Meanwhile we must continuously adjust our capital structure to the needs of our operations. The Board's proposal concerning buy-backs of Skanska shares should, among other things, be viewed in this light." Stockholm den 4 november 1999 Skanska AB Koncernstab Kommunikation For further information, please contact: Anders Nyrén, Executive Vice President, Finance Tel +46 8-753 86 32 Staffan Schéle, Investor Relations Tel +46 8-753 82 72 Enclosed: Skanska Group, Year-End Report, 1999 Results This and previous press releases are also available at www.skanska.com ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/02/24/20000224BIT00790/bit0001.doc The full report http://www.bit.se/bitonline/2000/02/24/20000224BIT00790/bit0002.pdf The full report