KEY POINTS:
Fletcher Building is set to score two of the biggest Crown civil works contracts put up for tender and is also poised to release details showing its forward order book is much stronger than previously announced.
Fletcher is in final negotiations with Transit New Zealand to secure the $265 million Manukau Harbour second crossing job, one of the single largest projects let this decade.
The listed company is also preferred tender bidder for the $100 million-plus New Lynn rail trench project due to start around Christmas.
The two contracts could well push Fletcher's shares back above $13.
Shares in the $6.2 billion company closed up 23c at $12.78 on Friday. Market expectations are running high for the company's half-year result due out early next year.
Fletcher chief executive Jonathan Ling was reluctant to talk about any new contracts but confirmed the company's involvement in the Manukau project and its tender bid for the work, which he said was attractive for many reasons.
"I believe we are the preferred contractor but no contracts have been let. I've learnt over a lot of years in commerce that you are not there until you have signed the papers.
"I'm very happy about this because the contract is close to home and our construction business is going exceptionally well."
Ling also said he would soon release financial details of the total value of work Fletcher had in hand.
"The backlog of work is much stronger than it was when I last announced it," he told the Herald.
Shareholders will hear the new figure at the annual meeting in Auckland on November 13. Ling was reluctant to say any more, pointing to NZX listing rules on continuous market disclosure.
On August 8, Ling had put the backlog of work at $775 million.
Major contracts won included the $130 million Tauranga Harbour link, the $66 million BNZ Centreport, $50 million Hobson Bay sewer tunnel and $345 million Lower Hutt motorway.
Fletcher is understood to have won the Manukau job in a consortium with Beca and Higgins, up against at least one other rival consortium with specialist roading consultants, designers, engineers, pavers and contractors.
Fletcher is also in a consortium with Beca for the New Lynn job, which could be worth up to $140 million.
Peter Spies, Transit's Auckland regional manager, said he could release no details on the deal and the contracting consortium for the Manukau job would not be announced for at least 10 days. But he spoke highly of Fletcher, particularly for roading jobs.
"The work they have done on the North Shore busway project speaks for itself. Fletcher was also involved in the Central Motorway Junction project completed last year and so they have a track record of delivering some key projects in Auckland," Spies said.
Since 2002, Transit has been planning for the second harbour crossing at Manukau, after it identified major issues in the key industrial and airport access.
The job will widen the existing Manukau Harbour Crossing so a continuous high-standard transport connection is achieved along SH20. A four-lane bridge will be built alongside the existing bridge built in 1984 to create eight traffic lanes in total. The bridge approaches will also be widened.
Last October, Transit lodged resource consent applications with Auckland City, Manukau City and the Auckland Regional Council. It needs the job finished in time for the Rugby World Cup in 2011.
