Murray and Roberts grows its order books

South African construction and engineering company Murray & Roberts (MUR) announced on Wednesday that its order book grew to R48 billion as at September this year from the R45.3 billion recorded at the end of its 2012 financial year.

Its net cash position was unchanged at the end of September from the R1.2 billion recorded at the end of June‚ despite recent industrial actions costing the company R200 million.

Murray & Roberts said construction in Africa and the Middle East remained difficult due to the current market’s conditions and pressure on its margins.

“A major and growing infrastructural backlog exists in SA.

"At a recent presidential infrastructure investment conference‚ President Jacob Zuma said SA would spend as much as R4-trillion on infrastructure development projects over the next 15 years‚ and about R844 billion over the next three years‚” the company said in a note on Wednesday.