Finance & Funding

Contractor STRABAG is bullish and report strong economic performance for its latest financial results. The firm’s output volume after first nine months of 2015 hit nearly €10.3 billion, an increase of 6% over the same period for 2.14. Meanwhile there was strong growth in earnings with the firm’s EBITDA rising to €403.79 million, and EBIT to €115.81 million. The order backlog was down 11% to €13.8 billion however. For the whole of 2015, the outlook is healthy.

Colombia will accept bids later this month for two major projects under the ongoing 4G strategic plan for highways, according to vice-president German Vargas Lleras, Contracts details for construction of the Bucaramanga-Pamplona and Pamplona-Cucuta motorways have been published on the website of the National Infrastructure Agency, ANI.

Serbia and China have signed a memorandum of understanding for construction of two sections of Serbia’s Corridor 11. The MoU was inked in during Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic’s visit to the Chinese capital Beijing last week. Serbia’s Tanjug news agency reported that Vucic said the deal was worth around €209 million and included construction of the 18km Surcin-Obrenovac bridge. Corridor 11 runs from the Serbian capital Belgrade southwest to the border with Montenegro, another member state of

The ambitious Fehmarn Belt Fixed Link, connecting Denmark and Germany, will open in 2025 at the earliest, according to the Danish finance ministry. Femern A/S, the Danish government-owned company managing the project, confirmed the note from the government. It also said the ministry still has financial concerns over the deal to build an immersed tunnel connecting the towns of Rødby in Denmark’s southern Zealand with Puttgarden in northern Germany. Of particular is the time for a construction company t

Loans from Japan to Cambodia will help finance work on a key highway upgrade. The loan package totals US$150 million and will be used for the project to upgrade Cambodia’s National Road No 5. This major route runs from Poipet city, through Banteay Meanchey to Phnom Penh. The loan was announced by HE Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister in a meeting with Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, the prime minister of Cambodia. The meeting was held at the recent 27th ASEAN Summit in Malaysia.

Key highway projects are progressing in Australia. In the state of Victoria, the authorities are planning a road widening project for the Monash Freeway that will cost an estimated US$289.54 million (A$400 million). The project calls for the route to be widened to five lanes in either direction for the stretch between the EastLink and the South Gippsland Highway.

A financing deal has been signed for a portion of a major highway project in Indonesia. The US$91 million loan package has been signed between Indonesian infrastructure financing company, Sarana Multi Infrastrucktur (SMI), and contractor, Hutama Karya. This will help pay for work on the 22km Palembang-Indrayala stretch of the 2,700km Trans Sumatra 2,700km highway project. The funds will be made available in three tranches. Funding from state sources will provide the remaining funds required for the Palemban

Vietnam is planning a series of major works to upgrade transport in the Central Highlands area. The Vietnamese Government has released plans to spend some US$4.95 billion improving transport infrastructure in the Central Highlands. A significant portion will be used for 12 projects to build and upgrade several sections of national highways. Government funding will pay for a portion of this work, with private sources providing the remaining financing, although further details have not yet been released.

Two major road projects are planned for Poland. Spanish construction firm Dragados intends to start work building a 25km ring road around the Polish city of Radom in the second half of 2016. The road will cost over €171.67 million to construct and will be completed in 2018. The work includes building four bridges, four junctions and two pedestrian bridges. The new ring road will form a part of the S7 road and reduce journey time between Krakow, Kielce and Warsaw.

The Thailand Government aims to review plans for a series of PPP infrastructure projects in the first half of 2016. Should the projects get the go ahead, bidding processes would then commence in the second half of 2016. The planned PPP projects include the construction of two major highways. The highways are planned to connect Nonthaburi's Bang Yai district with Kanchanaburi as well as Ayutthaya's Bang Pa-in district with Nakhon Ratchasima.