By Rhiannon Hoyle
SYDNEY--Leighton Holdings Ltd. (LEI.AU) said net profit rose in
the first quarter of 2015 as the company cut costs and widened
margins, offsetting falling revenue as Australia's decadelong
mining investment boom ends.
Leighton, Australia's biggest construction company, reported an
unaudited net profit of 124.1 million Australian dollars (US$95.9
million) for the three months through March. That compared to a
profit of A$106.0 million in the same period a year earlier.
The company forecast full-year profit of A$450 million-A$520
million.
Leighton said it had widened its profit margin to 3.6% compared
to 2.6% a year ago, and slashed its gearing--or debt-to-equity
level--to 12.1% from 38.5% at the end of March, 2014.
"We have streamlined our operating model, degeared and de-risked
our balance sheet, and become more efficient and sustainable,"
Chief Executive Marcelino Fernández Verdes said in a regulatory
filing.
Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com
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