After years of budget blowouts and delays, Transmission Gully is finally open to the public. Video / Mark Mitchell
French-owned major New Zealand building, roading and infrastructure contractor HEB Construction, building some of this country’s biggest projects, has pushed up annual profit 62 per cent in its latest year.
Financial statements for the year to December 31, 2023, recorded $886 million in revenue, up on the previous year’s $736m,resulting in profit leaping from $16.1m to $26.1m in the latest year.
The accounts have just been filed with the Companies Office, full disclosure required because HEB is owned by France’s powerful VINCI Construction Group.
The bulk of revenue is from construction contracts, up from $587m to $719m in the latest year, supplemented by maintenance contracts up from $148m to $167m.
HEB and CPB Contractors formed a joint venture to build Wellington’s Transmission Gully Motoray but those builders are now suing Waka Kotahiover that controversial $1.25 billion project. In November, Waka Kotahi confirmed legal proceedings were underway.
Transport services general manager Brett Gliddon said the dispute related to incomplete works on the road and Waka Kotahi’s expectation these should be completed to the standard in the project’s contract.
“CPB Contractors and HEB Construction Joint Venture (CPBHEB JV) have lodged legal proceedings against Waka Kotahi in response to our ongoing expectations that it complies with these obligations,” Gliddon said late last year.
CPB Contractors’ accounts for the year to December 31, 2023, filed with the NZ Companies Office showed it made a loss of $56m, down on the previous year’s $133m loss. Revenue climbed from $245m to $280m but expenses also rose from $326m to $341m.
HEB owner VINCI Construction says it has more than 1300 companies and 115,000 employees around the world.
The Link Alliance - building Auckland’s new $5 billion-plus City Rail Link - has a number of members including Vinci Construction Grands Projects S.A.S. along with Downer NZ, Solentanche Bachy International, WSP New Zealand, AECOM New Zealand and Tonkin + Taylor.
In its latest accounts, HEB listed projects in which has arrangements with other businesses. Those included:
Transmission Gully, in which HEB has a 20 per cent stake with partner CPB;
Auckland maintenance project Liveable Streets, in which HEB is in a 50 per cent partnership with Higgins;
Pukekohe Waste Water Auckland, in which HEB is in a 50 per cent arrangement with McConnell Dowell;
Penlink, in which HEB is in a 50 per cent arrangement with Fulton Hogan;
Auckland’s Downtown Infrastructure Development Programme, in which HEB is in a 33 per cent arrangement with Downer and Soletage Bachy.
In 2015, HEB Construction was bought by France’s Vinci Group for €43 million.
Today, it says its projects include road, rail and bridges, road maintenance and surfacing, land and urban development, water, ports and marine and precast and heavy haulage.
HEB says it is one of New Zealand’s major infrastructure companies, a tier-one business.
BTG 07Jul22 - An artist's impression of the new Papamoa East Interchange. Image / Tauranga City Council
HEB and VINCI Construction together offer a combination of New Zealand-based experience, backed by the global expertise of one of the largest construction companies in the world,” it says.
