Building on strong results recorded at the interim stage and a favourable economic environment, listed South African construction company, Basil Read (BSR), has reported a 110% increase in headline earnings per share to 89.62 cents for the year ended Dec 31 from 42.71cents in the prior period.

On a fully diluted basis, HEPS increased to 89.15 cents from 2005's 42.6 cents.

Revenue rose 88% to 1,16 billion rand from 617.3 million rand in the prior period, while net profit for the year surged 120% to 54.96 million rand from 24.98 million rand.

A dividend of 30 cents was declared. No dividend was paid in 2005.

Commenting on the results, the company said that the increase in revenue was by far the highest in its 54-year history.

It noted that the price of Basil Read shares had risen from 3.89 rand at the beginning of the year to 12.60 rand at the end of the year, outperforming both the all share index and the construction and materials sector for the second consecutive year.

New contracts secured during the year totalled two billion rand, while the order book at the end of the period under review stood at 2.3 billion rand from 1.3 billion rand in December 2005.

"At the reporting date the group is negotiating additional work worth 1.5 billion rand that is not included in the order book," it said.

Basil Read said that its business was concentrated in the South African market, although work for selected private clients in sub-Saharan Africa would continue for the foreseeable future.

"This focus continues to work well for Basil Read, given buoyant infrastructure spending in the local market. We believe this trend will continue beyond the immediate focus on infrastructure to meet targets for 2010."

The group said that in the period under review, its buildings division continued to grow and secured several new contracts during the year, including the construction of Paarl Hospital, valued at 200 million rand.

"Phase two of Cosmo City, the flagship project in partnership with government, is progressing well. Given the success of this project, the division is investigating similar property developments with limited property risk, with particular emphasis on PPP (public private partnership) initiatives."

The roads and civil engineering division also produced strong results for the year and secured numerous contracts.

"The opencast mining division recorded acceptable results after a challenging year following the termination of a major contract with Lonmin Platinum (LON), outside Brits," it said.

Looking ahead, the company said that it had emerged from a challenging period in recent years as a well capitalised, appropriately structured and managed group, ideally positioned to capitalise on buoyant conditions in the construction sector and the accelerated programme of infrastructural development under way.

"Results for the year underscore the solid base now in place to sustain steady organic and acquisitive growth ahead."