In the third quarter, Veidekke achieved an overall increase in turnover of 6.5 per cent and a pretax profit of NOK 271.8 million. This is on a par with last year, with the company's Danish operations showing the strongest improvement. Activities in Norway reflect the fact that many projects are close to completion while new projects are starting up, but here, too, there is an improvement in margins. Veidekke's activities in Sweden are developing well.

"Prospects are bright throughout the Group. Our order books continue to swell and have now reached a record-high figure of almost NOK 13 million - which is a growth of 19 per cent since the beginning of the year. This gives us good reason to be optimistic about the future. There are few dark clouds on the horizon for our construction operations or for the activities in our Industry division, but we are naturally a little less certain about developments in the housing sector. This market has been extremely good throughout Scandinavia in recent years, but is now showing a tendency to level off, albeit at a high level," says Mr. Venold.

In the property development area, Veidekke is now planning for a volume of between 2000 and 2500 residential units for the Group, with Sweden and Norway as the most important markets. In all three countries, the non-residential property market has been slow for a long time, but is now showing clear signs of recovery. This will also give Veidekke's construction entities other possibilities for growth if the housing market should level off or decline.

In his presentation of the company's third-quarter results, Veidekke's President and CEO emphasises the need to continue to focus on the ongoing improvement processes in the Group. The core elements of these processes are employee participation in project planning and implementation, focus on cost trends and continuous efforts to improve risk perception.

Veidekke anticipates continued growth in volume in the years ahead and expects to employ some of its strong financial resources on strategic investments to strengthen capacity in the Group. Veidekke's Board of Directors has also decided to initiate the repurchase of up to three per cent of the company's own shares. This will help to secure an optimum capital structure for the Group. This is the first time this has been done since Veidekke was first listed on the stock exchange in 1986.

Further information can be found in the Board of Directors' Report for the Third Quarter 2006, which is enclosed with this press release.

Please address any queries to:

Terje R. Venold, President and CEO; phone +47 21057701 or +47 90582323

Arne Giske, Executive Vice President, CFO; phone +47 21057780 or +47 90589526

Jørgen G. Michelet, Financial Director and Head of Investor Relations; phone +47 21057722 or

+47 91743856

Kai Krüger Henriksen, Executive Vice President, Communication; phone +47 21057704 or

+47 90519360

VEIDEKKE ASA