ENGINEERED EXCELLENCE
Murray & Roberts has emerged from three years of focused strategic intervention as a financially robust, diversified international project engineering and construction group, that is ready to take charge of its New Strategic Future.
The three year Recovery and Growth plan which restored Murray & Roberts’ financial stability, returned it to profitability and established a foundation for growth will end in June this year, and Group Chief Executive Henry Laas says that a process is underway to map out a New Strategic Future for the Group.
Murray & Roberts is now proceeding with its longer term plan to build a New Strategic Future. By 2020 the Group aims to be a leading international diversified project engineering, procurement and construction group in selected natural resources market sectors. Underlying this plan is a guiding principle which the Group terms ‘Engineered Excellence’.
REPOSITIONING MURRAY & ROBERTS FOR THE FUTURE – RENAMING THE GROUP’S OPERATING PLATFORMS
As part of the Group’s initiative to reposition Murray & Roberts and its brand in the minds of shareholders and other stakeholders, the Murray & Roberts Limited Board has renamed the Group’s four operating platforms.
Murray & Roberts’ capability is in the delivery of large engineering and construction projects and the Board felt that it was necessary to rename the platforms to more accurately describe the target market sectors in which the Group operates.
The new operational platform names are:
- • Infrastructure & Building (previously Construction Africa and Middle East)
- • Underground Mining (previously Construction Global Underground Mining)
- • Energy & Industrial (previously Engineering Africa)
- • Oil & Gas (previously Construction Australasia Oil & Gas and Minerals)
NEW STRATEGIC FUTURE OBJECTIVES
The Murray & Roberts Board recently approved the New Strategic Future plan, which will be shared with stakeholders in more detail as the plan unfolds. The main objectives of this plan are to:
1. Maximise Shareholder Value
Murray & Roberts remains focused on increasing profitability, cash generation and returns to shareholders. The Group ended the 2014 financial year with a strong balance sheet, a much improved liquidity position and strong earnings growth relative to its peers in the domestic market. With the exception of its EBIT margin, the Group achieved all of its investment margins and aspirations during the 2014 financial year.
2. Focus on Natural Resources
Murray & Roberts will focus its engineering and construction service offering on selected
natural resources market sectors. The Group is already well positioned in the oil & gas,
mining, energy and industrial markets and will continue to pursue organic and acquisitive
growth in these selected markets. It is furthermore considering opportunities to establish
a meaningful presence in the global industrial water market.
3. Diversify our Business Model
Murray & Roberts currently generates the bulk of its profits in the construction part of
the project value chain. While it intends to maintain a strong position in this part of the
value chain, the Group plans to more aggressively grow its presence in other parts of the
project value chain, in particular specialist engineering, commissioning and asset support.
This will be achieved through organic growth, as well as small bolt-on acquisitions. Four
small niche businesses have been identified as possible bolt-on acquisition targets by the
Group’s existing operational platforms and negotiations are currently underway.
“We stand at the threshold of an exciting and rewarding phase of development in our Group, as we strive to become a leading international engineering and construction firm, known for excellence in all that we do.”
4. Enhance Market Valuation and Positioning
Murray & Roberts intends to reposition its brand in the minds of shareholders and
other stakeholders and to enhance its market valuation. The Group is engaging with its
stakeholders to improve their understanding of ‘the Murray & Roberts’ that has emerged
from its Recovery & Growth years. Murray & Roberts is not only a local construction
company, but rather a diversified international project engineering, procurement and
construction group, focused on selected natural resources market sectors.
5. Enhance the Safety, Performance and Diversity of our People
Murray & Roberts has established systems and processes that provide a strong
foundation for the management of safety, people performance and transformation. 2015
will be a year of consolidation in which audits and peer reviews will be undertaken to
ensure that the initiatives implemented in recent years to improve our safety performance
are well established at our operations.
There will be a much stronger focus on leadership development and project
management training in 2015, with the Baobab Learning Centre at the corporate office
playing a key role in facilitating this new training drive.
|Improving employee relationships and employment equity will be key focus areas
that will gain more momentum. The recently developed employee relations framework,
currently being implemented in the South African-based Energy & Industrial operations,
will be extended to other operations.
6. Deliver Project and Commercial Excellence
There will be ongoing and increasing focus in all operations to enhance our project
delivery performance, as well as our risk and commercial management practices. These
are crucial requirements to succeed as an engineering and construction company and for
the Group to achieve engineered excellence.
A YEAR OF CONSOLIDATION
In the financial year ahead, the Group will focus on consolidating the strong base
for future growth that it has established through the successful delivery of its
Recovery & Growth strategy.
“We congratulate and thank our Board, the executive team and all of our employees
for their contribution to the successful completion of our three year Recovery & Growth
strategy. We stand at the threshold of an exciting and rewarding phase of development in
our Group, as we strive to become a leading international engineering and construction
firm, known for excellence in all that we do,” concludes Laas.