European division secures £28m for Bovis

Bovis Lend Lease’s (BLL) project and construction management division has notched up a profit of £28m in its European division in the latest financial year.

The figure represents virtually half of Lend Lease’s total profits in its EMEA operating region - Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The future plan is to focus on expansion across southern and eastern Europe and Russia as well as looking for heavier workloads in the Middle East.

In the 12 months to 30 June, BLL won construction contracts in the UK commercial sector worth a total of £1.1bn.

BLL was appointed manager of pre-construction work on the £800m redevelopment of Battersea Power station by developer Parkview International. The construction management assignment for the refurbishment of BBC Broadcasting House in London has been converted into a £400m design and build contract.

Outside of the UK, new work in other parts of the EMEA region runs to a total value of £1.2bn. This tally includes work in Moscow (the £160m Capital Group Tower), in Abu Dhabi (the £300m Al-Mushrif Palace) and in Milan (the £500m redevelopment of the Fiera district).

Further afield, BLL came unstuck in Australia, diving £21m into the red as a result of losses on several projects, the biggest hit coming on the Herald and Weekly Times project in Melbourne. Other projects caught out by an escalation in trade prices were based in Canberra and Brisbane.

The parent group, Lend Lease Corporation, made a profit after tax of £130m which compared well with the loss of £280m in the previous year.