Sogea - 1999 annual report - Vinci

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CIVIL ENGINEERING
In civil engineering, Sogea continued construction of
the Ziga dam in Burkina Faso and the Dapaong dam
in Togo as well as the bridge over the Moulouya river
in Morocco. The company completed the work of
raising the Sadiola dam in Mali as well as extraction
of uranium ore from the Mikouloungou mine in
Gabon. In addition, Sogea won the contract to build
the Owendo conventional thermal power plant
in Libreville, Gabon. The company won contracts
in Benin to renovate engineering structures and in
partnership with Dodin it will be extending the port
facilities in Cotonou; in Morocco, the construction of
wind farms in Tétouan; in Gabon, several earthworks
and civil engineering projects for the new Comilog
ferro-manganese plant.
In Europe, Norwest Holst has managed to increase
its activity despite the lack of growth of the market.
In 1999 the company had its first major success in the
PFI sector with the construction of an avenue linking
the Cardiff Bay with the city centre. It will be
responsible for its maintenance for a period of 25 years.
In addition, Norwest Holst obtained or continued
several projects related to road and rail infrastructure:
the A12-M11 road link, the railway station near
Luton airport, earthmoving work on the M1 and A1
Motorways.
It is also building the Mid Kent section of the
future London-Dover Channel Tunnel Rail Link and
Hungerford Bridge in London.
In the Benelux, Denys was awarded several projects
on the Brussels-Antwerp high speed rail line.
Outlook
While continuing its customer and activity diversification
so as to be independent of market cycles, Sogea will be
stepping up its policy of working increasingly on a
network basis and leveraging internal synergies so
as to be able to innovate in the many projects it has
identified for coming years.
Sogea’s regional entities will thus be able to avail
themselves to an even greater extent of the specialized
subsidiaries within the company, Dodin and Cofex,
as they did on a large number of occasions in 1999
on both the French and export markets.
The environment, industry and telecommunications
markets should continue to grow and enable Sogea to
consolidate its position.
Despite the slowdown in activity in Africa, the main
projects undertaken during the fiscal year and the
company’s leading position should make it possible for
it to withstand the slump better than its competitors.
In the United Kingdom, finally, the development of
the road and rail markets and the good order book
at Norwest Holst should provide that company with
good prospects for the year 2000.