The construction consultancy Ramboll has said that it managed to grow revenue by 30 per cent during the first half this year to5.4 billion kroner (Dh3bn).
The Danish construction consultancy said it had achieved “solid” results in Denmark, Sweden and Finland, but added that its earnings margins had weakened as a result of a tough oil and gas market and a major writedown in the value of a large project in the Middle East that had been won three years ago.
The company said it could not name the project that had led to the writedown, but that the effect was to write one full percentage point off its earnings margins, which fell to 3.5 per cent of revenue.
Ramboll’s year-on-year net profit was 36 per cent lower at 33.5 million kroner.
The company, which has five offices in the GCC – two in the UAE, two in Saudi Arabia and one in Qatar – said employee numbers grew by 19 per cent during the period after its acquisition of the US-based environmental consultancy Environ. It now employs 12,841 people globally, about 500 of whom are in the Middle East. Its main areas of activity are buildings, transport, environment, energy and oil and gas.
“Ramboll delivered growth in line with our expectations despite a challenging oil and gas market,” said the group chief executive Jens-Peter Saul.
mfahy@thenational.ae
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