WBHO APPOINTS NEL CHAIRPERSON, WARNS OF LOWER HEPS

Construction engineering company Wilson Bayly
Holmes-Ovcon (WBHO) has appointed CEO Louwtjie Nel as executive chairperson to succeed Mike Wylie, who plans to retire in
November.

WBHO said Nel’s appointment as chairperson would
ensure that the constructive and effective relationship between the board and
executive management continued.

In turn, Wolfgang
Neff would succeed Nel as CEO. He has been MD of WBHO’s North and
Africa building divisions for the last seven years.

Meanwhile, the company advised that its headline
earnings per share (HEPS) for the financial year ended June 30, were likely to
be between 30% and 40%, or between 849c and 990c, lower than the HEPS of R14.14
reported for the year ended June 30, 2018.

WBHO said a forecast loss position on the Western
Roads Upgrade project, in Australia, had negatively affected the operating
performance of the group in the financial year.

Engineering News Online previously
reported that the botched roads project had resulted in WBHO’s operating profit
for the six months ended December 31, 2018, nosediving to R3-million, from
R510-million in the prior half-year period.

WBHO was the lead contractor responsible for
delivering the project to a concession company.

Nel previously stated that the loss related to the
interpretation of the project’s technical specification, which resulted in the
underestimation of the physical work required to meet the output specifications
of the contract.

The company will release its results on September 3.https://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/wbho-appoints-nel-chairperson-as-wylie-retires-warns-of-lower-heps-2019-08-19