South African broad-based infrastructure firm Group Five is taking advantage of international opportunities and lessening its exposure to the South African rand by participating in a number of cross-border ventures.

The group, which yesterday reported its results for the financial year ended June 30, recently opened a regional office in Dubai to service the buoyant market in the Gulf region.

Executive director Howard Turner told Engineering News Online that the company is currently bidding for three projects in the region, and has already secured its involvement in the construction of Dubai’s new international airport. It also secured work at Dubai Aluminium, which is reportedly proceeding well.

“The Gulf market is enormous and the opportunities are boundless,” Turner commented, adding that the company has partnered with Al Naboodah – a well-known and respected business in the Emirates, with extensive construction expertise.

Group five will also strengthen its position in Poland, following an announcement on Tuesday by the Polish government giving the firm a concession to operate and maintain the country’s new A1 motorway toll-road, which is to be completed next year.

The group is also involved in a concession in Hungary, where it operates and maintains the M5 motorway toll-road. The fair value adjustment to this long-term investment favourably affected the results of Group Five’s Intertoll. However, continued poor performance by the Roads and Earthworks business offset the good results of Intertoll, and the rest of the group.

In addition to an already-strong presence in Africa, Group Five expects the repositioning of its civils division – to take advantage of opportunities in Zambia, Ghana and recent South African chemical industry expansion – to lead to substantial improvement in profitability in 2005.

Group Five’s strategic focus on petrochemicals, adopted during the last financial year, resulted in the engineering division securing contracts from Chevron Texaco, in the Cabinda Enclave, in Angola. This, together with potential alliance arrangements on large cross-border projects, is anticipated to ensure solid growth in the coming year.

The group was recently informed that it did not succeed in securing a contract to supply spiral steel pipes for the construction of a $700-million Jordanian water pipeline.

Meanwhile, Group Five is engaged in two big projects in Tanzania, for the construction of the country’s reserve bank building, in Dar es Salaam, and the construction of a branch building for the Bank of Tanzania, in Zanzibar. The contracts are worth $80-million and $26-million, respectively.

In addition, the group’s $100-million presidential contract, in Angola, for the construction of 2 500 housing units and associated infrastructure, is on schedule for completion in September/October.

The Nova Vida development, which is to provide housing for about 50 000 people, has been a very successful project. In two years, the Angolan operation has contributed R797-million to group revenue.