Construction group Murray & Roberts (M&R) has announced a settlement related to one of the lossmaking projects that had dragged the group into the red three years ago, forcing a multiyear turnaround plan.
The company reached an undisclosed negotiated financial settlement with Boskalis Australia on all claims and counter claims related to the beleaguered Gorgon Pioneer Materials Offloading Facility (GPMOF) project, in Australia.
“The implementation of this project turned out to be very different to what we envisaged at tender stage and we will work very hard to recover our entitlement here,” the company said in a previous statement.
In 2011, M&R plunged into the red with a loss of nearly R2-billion, with recovery only emerging in 2013, when the company returned to profitability after absorbing the bulk of the financial impact of the lossmaking projects.
Last year, CEO Henry Laas explained that M&R had taken on some major projects during the boom that, at the time, did not pose significant risks or negative consequences for the group.
The company had committed to settling its other claims from projects that had left the company “with some scars.”
By: Natasha Odendaal
