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Balfour Beatty could be braced for fresh profit warning in the new year following KPMG's review of its UK contracts, city analysts have warned.
The contractor could face a write-down of £60m or more when the independent report is delivered to the board in January, analysts have speculated.
Investec issued updated research on 5 December, in which it forecasted that the contractor would take a £60m profit hit as a direct result of the findings of the KPMG review, with a full-year 2014 pre-tax loss of £65.5m.
Investec's Andrew Gibb told Construction News that "there may be worse to come" for the contractor, which has issued three profit warnings totalling £140m in 2014.
He said: "Scientifically it's very hard to put a number on [but] it's our view that fundamentally things are likely to have another leg down in terms of the numbers.
"A lot will depend on the associated write downs and provisions; it could be a very expensive process to draw a line under all of the issues."
Other analysts told Construction News Balfour Beatty's shortfall could be greater than £60m. They said while a further profit shortfall could occur, factors such as differing contract terms and client demands made it difficult assess the potential cost.
One analyst, who...