Press Releases 2005

April 12, 2005
New public-private-partnership project in Australia: Bilfinger Berger to realize hospital project in Melbourne worth €190 million

Bilfinger Berger has expanded its portfolio of PPP concession projects in Australia by signing a concession agreement with the State of Victoria for the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne. Under this build-operate-transfer (BOT) project, Bilfinger Berger will design, finance and construct the new complex, and then operate it for a period of 25 years. The new hospital has a project volume of €190 million; Bilfinger Berger's equity commitment amounts to €11 million. Design and construction will be undertaken by Bilfinger Berger's Australian subsidiary, Baulderstone Hornibrook, which has considerable successful experience with challenging health-sector projects.

Australia is one of the Group's most important markets for privately financed concessions projects. Bilfinger Berger is currently developing two prisons to the west of Melbourne under a PPP model. Another business focus is on transport infrastructure. The company is playing a significant investment and construction role in the 40-kilometer M7 freeway west of Sydney with a project volume of €1,350 million. Work on the Cross City Tunnel, a two-kilometer toll tunnel under the center of Sydney, is approaching completion. The operating phase of this €520 million project will begin in the middle of 2005. Due to the first-class references of its Australian subsidiaries, Abigroup and Baulderstone Hornibrook, and the Group's strong financial resources, Bilfinger Berger is ideally placed to continue profiting substantially from the high demand for PPP solutions in Australia.

Bilfinger Berger's worldwide BOT activities generate a return on invested equity of between 12% and 17% over their full concession lifetimes. The future free cash flows from its current projects already add up to more than €900 million; the net present value of these projects significantly exceeds the book value of the paid-in equity. "The concessions business is a source of long-term secure income for the Bilfinger Berger Group. We will continue to add projects to our portfolio that meet our strict return criteria," stated Herbert Bodner, Chairman of the Executive Board of Bilfinger Berger.