Carillion's £550m deal in Abu Dhabi keeps growth ambitions on track

Carillion has reminded doubters who wondered if its surge in growth in the Middle East might be on the wane that it is ‘business as usual’ on this score – emphasising the point with the announcement today of a £550m deal in Abu Dhabi.

Carillion has previously stated that it believes it will double its workload in the region to £600m by the end of 2009.

A recent slip in Carillion’s share price has been put down to doubts on that score.

Today’s announcement reveals the joint venture company Al Futtaim Carillion, has signed a contract with Aldar to deliver the Al Muneera development in Abu Dhabi.

The heads of terms were announced last November during a visit by UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown. 

Al Muneera forms part of Aldar’s £10 billion Al Raha Beach development.

The contract involves the provision of a 14-storey office building, 16 apartment buildings of between 11 and 14 floors, 148 town houses and 11 luxury villas facing the development's canal and waterfront.

Al Futtaim Carillion will have a peak workforce of 7,000. The development is already in full swing and is due for completion in April 2011.

In June last year Al Futtaim Carillion was awarded a £250m contract for the Marina Hotel on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi.
 
John McDonough, Carillion chief executive, said: "Over the last 35 years, Al Futtaim Carillion has established a strong reputation for delivering projects for blue-chip and Government customers.” 

"As the enormous growth we have seen in Dubai over recent years slows down, we expect strong growth in Abu Dhabi to keep us on track to achieve our objective of broadly doubling Carillion's share of revenue from our joint venture businesses in the Middle East from £337m in 2007 to around £600m by the end of 2009"