Porr still feels the crunch

Construction sector giant Porr AG’s earnings shrank by more than a fifth last year.The company announced today (Fri) that it achieved earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) of 49.1 million Euros in 2010, down from 64 million Euros the year before.Porr argued that it has been feeling the most recent recession – which broke out in autumn 2008 and affected Austria and countries all over the world the following year as well – with some delay.The Viennese building firm is the number three in the Austrian building sector behind Strabag SE and Alpine Bau. Porr has around 11,500 employees.Strabag, which has 73,600 staff, announced only yesterday that its Ebit improved by six per cent to 299 million Euros from 2009 to 2010.