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The construction group Raubex [JSE: RBX] saw its headline profit jump by between 60% to 80% in the six months to end-August.
The company reported that its infrastructure division enjoyed strong growth thanks to its work on various solar and wind energy projects across South Africa.
But its roads and earthworks division was hit by weak trading conditions, the 45-year old company said. Last year, Raubex reported that work from the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) and provincial governments halved in a year, as government curbed investment spending.
Raubex says it has "right sized" this division, and that it is now better positioned to manage the lower volume of work, while it has maintained sufficient capacity to participate in an expected improvement in the sector.
"Stable conditions have persisted in the affordable housing and commercial building sector."
Its materials division – which includes the manufacturing of readymix concrete, asphalt manufacturing and concrete bricks – was hit by "community unrest, which has affected a number of commercial quarry operations across the country", among other factors.
The company says it has maintained a strong balance sheet throughout the period and is well positioned to participate in future opportunities in the South African construction sector. Some of these opportunities have now started to come to the market to tender on including extensive upgrades to the N2/N3 road network in KwaZulu-Natal as well as upgrades to OR Tambo International Airport and Cape Town International Airport.
