AAP
Engineering firm UGL has reported a 15 per cent fall in first-half profit due to acquisition costs but it says it is on track to deliver a five per cent rise in full-year underlying profit.
UGL on Monday said net profit in the six months to December 31 was $55.4 million, down from $65 million in the prior corresponding period.
Most of the fall was due to $16.8 million in transaction costs associated with UGL's acquisition of UK property firm DTZ, the company said.
First-half underlying profit, which excludes the impact of one-off items such as acquisitions, was $72.2 million, up six per cent on $68.1 million in the previous corresponding period.
UGL chief executive Richard Leupen said the company was on its way to achieving a five per cent rise in underlying profit for the full financial year.
Operating revenue increased five per cent to $2.4 billion in the first half of the year while underlying earnings before interest and tax was up by the same amount, to $110.3 million.
During the half-year period, UGL secured more than $3.4 billion in new contract and extensions, increasing the order book to a record $9.5 billion, the company said in a statement on Monday.
Contracts for maintenance work made up 63 per cent of the book.
UGL declared a fully-franked interim dividend of 34 cents per share, up six per cent on the prior comparable period.
