Financial wrap-up

The mining and metals and the water and environment sectors have been the highlights of 2007-08. The growth in alliance and joint-venture work has also been beneficial for the group along with the Buildings and Infrastructure and Power and Industry teams performing well.

For the first time, we broke the A$1 billion revenue barrier, producing healthy profits and returns for our shareholders, while retaining a healthy balance sheet.

2007-08 was relatively quiet for mergers and acquisitions, with just the one this year – REM in South Australia.

The Chilean regional operations continue to be an exceptional success story, attracting new business and growing strongly. It is now the biggest SKM business outside Australia.

We are developing plans to update our Enterprise Resource Planning systems. This process has begun and is an important strategic step that will allow our business and staff to operate more efficiently and effectively in the future.

There continues to be pressure on salary costs, which is increasing our cost base. Also, SKM has a strategy of not owning many fixed assets, and leases the buildings that we occupy. We have noticed sizeable increases in commercial rents, which is impacting our charge out rates. Changes in foreign exchange have not had a significant effect.

Craig Wildermuth was appointed Chief Financial Officer during the year with a focus on our financial strategies through to 2012.

While there are some clouds on the horizon, we remain cautiously optimistic about the outlook.

SKM has grown with its clients as a result of a number of factors, including increased global reach into the Asia-Pacific, Europe and South America and a shift from being a pure design firm to one that delivers projects through EPCM and alliancing models on increasingly large programs of work for Relationship Clients.

Growth has also been achieved through mergers, acquisitions and outsourcings.

For the first time,we broke the A$1 billion revenue barrier...
Binu Katari,
Finance Director,
Company Secretary

Who owns SKM?

SKM is owned by about 550 of its employees, with no staff member owning more than one per cent of the firm. When an employee leaves, they are required to sell their shares.

As a business, our employees share in our success and being fiercely independent allows SKM to make long-term decisions, which many public companies cannot make.