Irish building firm in the red

THE Irish arm of construction and engineering giant Laing O’Rourke went into the red last year as revenues plunged and its workforce was cut by over half.

In accounts just filed with the Companies Office by Laing O’Rourke Ireland Ltd, they show that revenues at the company last year dropped 75.7% from €103.6m to €25.1m to the end of March 2010.

The figures show that the company made a pre-tax loss of €1m following the company recording a pre-tax profit of €2.8m in 2009.

The losses incurred last year resulted in the company’s accumulated losses totalling €6.2m. According to the directors, they “are disappointed with the loss for the year incurred as a result of difficult economic conditions.

“Market conditions remain challenging and the business will only pursue selective profitable opportunities,” they said.

The figures show that numbers employed at the firm more than halved during the year from 590 to 282 — a loss of 308 or 52% of its workforce with site staff bearing the brunt of the jobs losses with 185 posts lost in that sector.

The jobs losses resulted in the company reducing staff costs 45% from €33.8m to €18.7m. It also incurred a €753,000 writedown in the value of investment properties following a €2.8m writeoff the previous year.

Established by Irishmen Ray O’Rourke and his brother Des three decades ago, the group has operations in Europe, the Middle East, south Asia and Australia.

The company’s Irish operations represent a small fraction of the group’s global activities with Laing O’Rourke being the biggest privately owned construction company in Britain. Its projects include the London 2012 Olympics. It recorded €5bn revenues in 2010.