Kier Group says that it has had a run of success in the Middle East, doubling its revenue in the past 12 months.
The latest contract wins for the group in the Middle East have a total value of £145m.
In Dubai, the company has been named preferred bidder for a £100m mixed-use development, as well as two infrastructure contracts totalling £15m on a major new leisure park project for the region.
In Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, Kier has also secured a £30m infrastructure project with a leading Saudi state-owned company in the eastern region.
Work on all three projects is expected to start this month.
Kier is building the first phase of a new campus for the University of Dubai in Academic City
The company says these contract wins build on substantial growth in Kier’s international business, with the result that Kier has doubled its revenue in the last 12 months.
It has also secured other prestigious projects in the Middle East for clients in the finance, leisure and education sectors.
These include a £26m project for Dubai University where Kier is building the first phase of a new 23,000 sq m campus for the University of Dubai in Academic City.
It has also won a £47m contract to connect utilities at three new theme parks in Dubai.
It is understood that Carillion and Laing O’Rourke have also won work on the Dubai Parks scheme.
It also secured two contracts totalling around £120m in Abu Dhabi: a £105m joint venture contract award for a hotel and spa in Abu Dhabi; and an £87m joint venture with Mercury to build a new data centre for a UAE bank.
In Kier’s annual report, posted October 2014, chief executive Haydn Mursell was asked about overseas opportunities in 2015 and said: “I believe this part of our business can grow to around 10% of group revenues by 2020, which will mean revenues growing to £500m. There are considerable risks in achieving this objective, principally in the areas of safety, ethics and the management of risk….We may also look to extend our footprint beyond Hong Kong, the Middle East and the Caribbean into a fourth territory.”
In a press release accompanying the latest contract wins, Mursell said: “These international awards are testimony to the strong relationships that we continue to develop with customers in the Middle East and the breadth of construction capability that we can offer customers in this market.”
“Kier has over 50 years of international experience and has doubled revenue in the business in the last year. These contracts demonstrate our on-going appetite for new opportunities in international markets, as we move forward to deliver our five-year growth strategy Vision 2020.”
