Serbia’s blue-chip civil engineering group Energoprojekt Holding [BEL:ENHL] said its pre-tax consolidated profit exceeded the company’s plan by 33% and reached 6.7 million euro ($7.8 million).
The company’s total consolidated income amounted to 154 million euro in the six months through June, 8% higher than planned, Energoprojekt said in a statement on its website on Thursday.
“We have maintained high discipline in cost control, almost all contracts have been executed according to the project plans, whereas significant delays in collection of receivables for the works executed and services provided have been recorded in Algeria, Belarus, Qatar and Uganda,” the company explained.
New contracts signed during the first six months of the year are worth 54.6 million euro, but below what the company’s business plan foresaw. However, Energoprojekt is planning to offset this drop by contracting projects amounting to some 296.6 million euro – more than planned – in the second half of the year.
On June 30, the total value of contracts being executed amounted to 356.4 million euro.
On July 10, Serbian company Napred Razvoj launched a takeover bid for the 64.68% stake it does not already control in Energoprojekt.
The bidding deadline is July 31.
Energoprojekt said on Thursday that it is against the takeover bid which has allegedly caused harm to the company.
Its supervisory board expressed its “distrust in the professional, financial and ethical capacity of the affiliated entities, acting in the capacity of the bidder” who previously evaded their legal obligations to issue a takeover bid and tried to carry out a “hostile takeover,” Energoprojekt said.
Napred Razvoj made the takeover bid in cooperation with its owner, Dobroslav Bojovic, and his companies Montinvest Properties and Jopag AG.
